


New and Old

by Ami_Clara



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst and Feels, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Fluff, Confusion, Fluff, Gen, Genius Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), I Don't Even Know, Overprotective, Percy Jackson is a Dork, Peter Parker Angst, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter is Not Impressed, Protective Michelle Jones, Protective Percy Jackson, Surprises, Teenage Drama, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28510926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ami_Clara/pseuds/Ami_Clara
Summary: Annabeth's life is perfect. She and Percy are growing ever the more fonder of each other as they mature in their relationship,  Annabeth is months away from getting her degree in architectural design, and she hasn't been attacked by demi-god blood thirsty monsters for quite some time now.Peter Parker has been having a great life, too, doing Spidey stuff, hanging out with MJ, and even making a new friend who's as smart as he is! Annabeth is a friend he never thought he needed in his life.Then, in a sudden turn of events, things go down horribly for both of the teenagers almost simultaneously. A bomb meant to kill Spider Man hits his apartment complex, killing everyone inside, including his only living relative- May Parker.A little more than a week later, Annabeth's dad, step mom and 2 little brothers are murdered in their sleep, and Percy Jackson is once again missing with nothing but a would-be engagement ring for clues to his whereabouts.These two traumatic events will bring Peter and Annabeth together in unexpected ways. Will they be able to survive and find a will to live again, or is hope already lost?
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson & Peter Parker, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson) & Michelle Jones, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 26
Kudos: 52





	1. Legos in the Park

**Author's Note:**

> So.. I know it sounds strange. Mixing 2 fandoms together??? Ami, are you crazy?!?!?  
> Well, I've been involved in so many fandoms and they all seem to have mixed together in my mind. All of a sudden this idea pops in:  
> "Hey! Annabeth Chase is a genius. Peter Parker is a genius. They both have deep secrets, hidden powers, aspiring relationships, and have both dealt with a severe amount of trauma! They'll make the perfect friendship!"  
> Now add the angst and horror every writer lives for, and I've got the makings of a story. This is going to be... Interesting. 
> 
> Enjoy! ;)

Annabeth hurriedly scooped frosted flakes out of the small glass bowl in her hands. She was eager to get out of the hot, cramped hotel room, and even more eager to be on time.

Annabeth was meeting Peter at the park today. _T_ _he park, of all places?_ They were nearly finished with their project and had decided to use a few hours of their Saturday to finish it, though it had taken a lot of coaxing from Peter.

  
Annabeth turned 18 in a month, and she was already almost finished with college. That degree in architectural design was very nearly her's. But as one of Annabeth's degree requirements, she had to help a high school student with a project involving one of the categories: Engineering, Technology, Economy, or (her personal favorite) Architecture.

  
The student was chosen randomly considering their amount of experience and knowledge, and Annabeth was assigned Peter Parker. Peter was an incredibly bright 16 year old boy who attended Midtown Highschool in Forest Hills, New York. He had curly brown hair and dark, chocolate brown eyes, and he couldn't go 5 minutes without smiling. It didn't take Annabeth very long to realize what a great guy he was.

  
Peter and Annabeth had chosen a project focusing on how to better stabilize taller buildings in New York City. The teenagers had been meeting in various places for the past couple of weeks, such as a nearby burger joint, or the hotel room lobby, or Peter's aunt's apartment.

  
They had already done a full 14 page report on the current problems of building's foundations and stabilization, and various ways to fix it. They had started a model out of Legos (Peter's idea) and were meeting to finish it today.

  
 _Ding_.  
Annabeth jolted at the sound of her phone, before grabbing it and touching the screen alive.  
_You're on your way, right?_

  
Annabeth sighed. Of course Peter was already there. He had a way of getting places quickly, though Annabeth hadn't quite figured out his mysterious ways yet.

  
_I_ _still have 15 minutes before I have to be there. I'm not even late!_

  
 _Well, its Saturday and I've got other things to do. Hurry up!_  
Annabeth smiled despite herself, and finished off the remaining few pieces of milk-drenched flakes of cereal before standing up and grabbing her bag. She'd be lying if she said the past 6 weeks she'd spent with Peter hadn't affected her. She had truly made a new friend, and one as smart as her, at that.

  
...

  
Peter had used the suit.  
He knew he wasn't supposed to use his web shooters as transportation to Central Park, or anywhere, for that matter. But there he was, swinging from building to building in his bright red suit with a backpack full of legos rubbing against his back.  
Driving was boring. New York traffic was boring. And Peter liked seeing the look on Annabeth's face when he arrived just minutes after she established a meeting time.

  
Peter arrived at the chosen spot at the park, a tree secluded couple of square feet with a small, broken fountain near the middle. Annabeth had chosen it, because it didn't seem to attract much attention, even though it was breathtaking. He hurriedly changed out of his suit and into a t-shirt and some jeans, glancing around as he did so. It wasn't necessary, his spider-sense would alert him of anyone's presence if they came within 20 feet of him.

  
After getting changed, Peter texted Annabeth a small message before dumping the legos and unfinished model out of his bag. They scattered and bounced into the grass, making small _thu-dumping_ noises as they hit the dirt.

  
A chime from his phone alerted him that Annabeth had replied to his impatient text. He thumbed a quick reply, chuckling at the distinct whine in the message. He really was a handful.

  
...

  
Annabeth parked her car near the entrance of the park before walking the short distance to where she knew Peter would be waiting. It was still kind of early, only 8:30, and the park was mostly filled with joggers and bikers. She and Peter wouldn't be interrupted.

  
About 20 feet from where they had chosen to complete the project, Annabeth heard Peter yell.  
"What took you so long! I've been waiting!"

  
Annabeth felt her jaw drop in surprise. She jogged through the trees to where Peter was leaning casually against the broken fountain, unperturbed.  
"What the heck, Peter! How on Earth did you see me? I was 20 feet away and surrounded by trees, and don't say I walk loud because I'm the quietest walker I know."

  
Annabeth couldn't hide the frustration in her voice. What was this guys deal? He must've had enhanced hearing or something.  
"I'm just very observant," Peter grinned, "Especially when I'm impatient. Now should we get on with the project?"

  
Annabeth huffed, but plopped down next to Peter on the grass. He'd already set up the unfinished model, and sorted the legos into little piles.

  
"Alright. Ringers off, no distractions. We're going to finish this project once and for all." Both of the teenagers turned off their ringers and dropped their devices into Peter's bag, before fisting handfuls of legos and continuing to build their model.

  
Annabeth and Peter had both reviewed the blueprints of the model several times, and so didn't have to talk much to each other while they built. They worked like a machine, and enjoyed the serenity and peacefulness of their surroundings.

  
...

  
Peter's legs started to fall asleep after sitting on them for an hour. He barely talked to Annabeth as they put lego after lego on the model, somehow afraid to disturb the tranquility around them.

Annabeth was humming softly, a melody Peter didn't recognize. A soft breeze was blowing through the trees, ruffling his curls.

Peter couldn't deny the content and calm in the air, but something was wrong with his spider sense. A soft poking at the tip of his spine, like someone was jabbing him with a dull needle, trying to get his attention.

Peter placed another yellow lego on a now 2 feet tall model of a random skyscraper in New York, closing his eyes in concentration. The danger his spider sense was warning him of didn't seem to be immediate, or even directed at him or anyone nearby. He opened his eyes again to see Annabeth staring at him, and so opted to ignore the warning for now.

"You good?" Annabeth muttered, her face a cross between concern and suspicion.

When Peter had first met Annabeth, he thought she was going to be one of those snobby blondes who never had a clue what they were talking about but made up for it with bratty comments and fluttering eyelashes. He felt bad for stereotyping. She was incredibly smart, and (aside from certain avengers and himself) he didn't know anyone as brilliant as her.

He was surprised with himself as the weeks went by. He felt like he was drawing nearer and nearer to her, like the fact that they had never been friends before wasn't important. Annabeth and Peter seemed to think the same way, and share the same kind of traumatic pasts (you couldn't see the sorrow in someone's eyes unless it lives in your eyes too.)

After about a month, Peter began to feel like he loved Annabeth. Not as a girlfriend or anything, because, well, he had MJ (and she had a really muscular guy that he didn't want to cross). He thought of Annabeth like a sister (but he didn't really know what that was supposed to feel like, he'd never had a sister) and a great friend.

And one as smart as him, at that.

"Peter?"

"What?"

"You good?"

Peter focused on the world again. Yeah, he really had to stop zoning out on people.

"I'm fine."

...

Annabeth sighed, dropping her hands to the grass and tentatively wiping the sweat off them.

"Well, we're finished."

Peter seemed to jolt in surprise, and glanced down at the tower with confused eyes.

"Wow. How long have we been working?"

Annabeth slipped her hand into Peter's bag and grabbed her phone, checking the time.

"Around two and a half hours. Its 11:07-"

Annabeth was abruptly cut off as she glanced through the notifications. At first it looked like an amber alert, which, while was horrifying, happened daily in the big city.

But that wasn't it..

_Two hours ago_

_Apartment complex in Queens hit by what seems to be an accidental bomb, mass pani.._

Annabeth swallowed. The alert was from 2 hours ago, surely fire and paramedics would already have it under control? If it was only one bomb on one random apartment, it surely was an accident, right?

Annabeth glanced up at Peter. He lived in Queens. He should know.

But Annabeth kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to worry him, and she knew if she told him he would just rush to Queens, causing a dozen more problems.

Annabeth shut off her phone and returned it to Peter's bag, licking her lips.

"Sorry. Just got caught in thought there." Annabeth muttered, returning her gaze to a suspicious looking Peter.

"I'm kind of hungry. Want to get some brunch?"

Peter smiled hesitantly, and offered her his elbow. "It would be my pleasure, ma'am."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but grabbed his elbow all the same, and scooped up his bag and lego model in her other arm.

Laughing, Peter took a step forward and began trekking back through the trees.

...

Peter was always hungry. He wasn't exaggerating. When your an enhanced prodigy-child with spidey-powers, you eat a lot more than a normal person.

Peter rode in Annabeth's car to the cafe (he very well couldn't swing on webs all the way there). When she asked him how he'd gotten to the park without a car in the first place, he'd said he'd walked. She didn't buy it, but didn't ask any more questions.

Peter gave Annabeth directions to the nearest starbucks(he had a feeling she wasn't from New York City) and they were soon seated in a small booth with frappichinos and blueberry muffins.

Annabeth and Peter chatted happily for a while, about goals and school and their maturing relationships (geez Peter, you took MJ on a date to an arcade? You have no idea how to get a girl, do you?)

Peter could swear Annabeth kept glancing at the TV behind him almost kind of panicked, but when he turned around all he saw was an average-dressed middle aged man watching a golf ball fly through the air.

Peter still had that poking feeling at the top of his spine, and he still didn't know why. It was really getting annoying.

Finally, once the teenagers had nothing but crumbs and empty cups in front of them, they decided to bid each other adieu. Peter handed Annabeth some cash to go pay for there meal, and while she was gone Peter grabbed his phone out of his bag. He was hoping Tony might have some answers as to why his spider sense was broken.

Peter lit up his screen and paused.

_16 new messages from Ned_

_21 new messages from MJ_

_49 new messages from Tony_

_31 missed calls from Tony, MJ, Ned, Pepper and 3 others_

_Apartment complex in Queens hit by what seems to be an accidental bomb, mass pani._

Peter felt his breath quickening and his heart speeding up. He quickly opened his phone by typing in a quick password and opened up contacts. He clicked on Tony's name and heard the phone ring for about 3 seconds before he heard his voice.

"Peter?"

"Uh. Yeah. Why did you text me 49 times?"

Peter heard the phone crackle for a moment, and thought he heard someone in the background crying.

"Ohmygod. Oh Peter. Why.. WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER YOUR 49 MESSAGES!! I can't-"

Tony stopped abruptly. He took in shaky breaths, and it sounded like he was trying to hold back a sob.

"Mr. Stark? What's going on? What's- what's wrong?"

Almost a minute went by, and Tony didn't answer. Peter waited, panic building up and up inside him as he waited for Tony to speak.

"Kid- just come down to the tower, ok? As soon as possible. I can't talk over this dumb phone any more. Just come here, ok?" Tony's voice got shakier and shakier as he spoke.

"Yeah. Yeah, ok. I'll be there."

Peter looked up to see Annabeth standing over him, looking almost guilty. He took her phone out of his bag and pushed it across rhe table to her rather forcefully.

"Somethings happened. I've got to go now. I'm sorry."

Annabeth looked concerned, and still _guilty,_ but spoke clearly.

"I can drive you if you want-"

"No. No, its fine. I'll get a taxi." Peter offered her a smile and tried to tone down the panic in his voice. "Thanks for all of your help!"

He backed out of the shop and into the street, before latching a web shooter around his wrist and flying to the top of the nearest building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Thats the first chapter! I know it was kind of just.. Everywhere, and short, but stay with me here. If you write, you know its hard to start a story, but I think I may be able to get you into it if your willing to stay. Thankyou to everyone who is reading this! It makes me very happy.  
> Kudos or comments if you can, they keep me out of therapy.  
> ;) updates soon!


	2. Secrets Shared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know... Updates came quicker than expected. Its just, I've had this fic in my head for a long time and its kind of just pouring out.  
> Thanks to everyone who took the time to read the first chapter and send kudos.... It makes me extremely happy!  
> Enjoy ;)

Peter knew. Of course he did. She knew it the second he picked up his phone. She saw the panic in his eyes. Saw the rise and fall of his chest increase dramatically.

Annabeth felt guilty for not telling him. She had offered to drive him to wherever he had needed to go, but he had disappeared before she could even formulate a plan. She wanted to tell Peter that taking a taxi wouldn't do any good, because surely no driver would take him to the site of the wreckage. They'd all be driving the opposite way.

He didn't take a taxi, though. Annabeth ran out into the streets merely seconds after Peter left starbucks, and she didn't see him anywhere. She searched over the bustling crowd for a head of unruly brown curls, but her search came back negative.

Suddenly, Annabeth saw a shadow of a man fly from 2 buildings above her. No, not flying- swinging. No-one else seemed to have noticed. Annabeth caught only a glimpse of the figure before it disappeared atop of another building, but it made too much sense to be a coincidence.

How had Peter gotten everywhere so quickly? How had Peter gotten to the park that morning without driving? Not to mention the fact that the shape of the swinging figure was slim, and kind of short, as well as noticably muscular, even from a distance. 

Annabeth was almost certain that was Peter. Peter Parker was Spider-Man.

...

Peter swung onto the Stark tower, before scaling the building down to the window that masked the avenger's common room. Peter saw lots of figures in the room, some sitting down with their heads in their hands, some pacing the room, and others staring at the TV in varying looks of horror.

Peter knocked loudly on the window, making everyone in the room turn their head towards him. A figure that had been pacing (Probably Tony) rushed to the window and opened it, pulling him into the room by his arms.

"Kid! _Whatthehell,_ where have you been?"

Yep. Tony. He looked like he had aged 10 years in a matter of 10 minutes, and worry lines were piled on his forehead.

"You literally just texted me 5 minutes ago, Mr. Star-" Peter stopped talking abruptly. Tony had pulled him to his chest, wrapping his arms around him tightly. The hug lasted at least a minute, and Peter was out of words. Someone in the room cleared their throat awkwardly, and Peter directed his gaze to Steve Rogers, who was sitting on the couch with worry lines similar to Tony's marking his face.

Tony pulled away from Peter, looking worried and angry and relieved and embarrassed all at the same time.

"Have you seen the news, son?" Steve questioned loudly, discomfort clearly etched all over his face.

"Well, I saw a notification alerting me of an accidental bomb falling on a building in Queens, and so I figured that might be why you all kept texting me, because you were afraid I'd been somewhere near the accident and wanted to make sure I was ok.." Peter quieted and waited for someone to confirm his suspicions, and glanced toward the TV.

There was footage of what used to be an apartment in flames, wreckage littered all over the streets and policemen, firefighters and paramedics continuing to pour onto the scene. The news anchors were going on and on about how the damage was irreparable, and there were no survivors.

"Well, son, do you know what building?"

Peter forced his eyes to look away from the horrific sight and turn to Steve.

"Um. I think it was an apartment-" But Peter's eyes were attracted to the screen again, specifically the words at the bottom of the screen, depicting the exact address of the apartment. His apartment.

Peter gasped, backing against the window he now wished he could jump back out of, and escape the pitying glances of the adults around him.

"That's my apartment" He mumbled, feeling multiple sets of eyes bore upon him.

_There were no survivors._

_Aunt May._

Tony was talking to him, something about how great it was that he hadn't been in that apartment, and how he could stay here as long as he needed. He could barely hear him.

_There were no survivors._

No survivors.

_Your all alone, Peter._

...

Annabeth sat on the couch in her hotel room, mouth hanging open. The news was showing the footage of the apartment after the bombing. No survivors, they were saying. It didn't take Annabeth very long to realize what and who's, exactly, the apartment was.

She had driven there several times to work on the project. His address sat on the screen blatantly, without regrets. Peter's apartment.

 _If you hadn't met with him today in the park, he'd probably be dead_.

Annabeth nearly choked at the thought. Someone knocked on the door, pulling Annabeth back to the world. Shaking herself in an effort to clear her head, she switched off the TV and headed to the door. 

She opened the hotel room door a crack and peered out into the hallway. There stood Percy Jackson, peering back at her through the crack and grinning cheesily. Despite the circumstances, Annabeth couldn't help but smile as she opened the door and pulled Percy into a hug.

"I wasn't expecting you!"She laughed over Percy's shoulder.

"And I wasn't expecting you either!"

Annabeth pulled away from Percy and glared up at him.

"If you weren't expecting me, then who were you expecting to open the door, Seaweed Brain?" She asked accusingly, closing the hotel door behind him and bolting it shut.

"I guess I was expecting a pretty, smart girl who would pull me into her arms and kiss me and make me wish I was never born- ow!"

Annabeth had punched him in the arm.

"What was that for?" Peter grunted, rubbing his arm.

"You know what that was for," she grinned, before pulling Percy to her again and kissing him.

...

4 hours later, Annabeth and Percy were snuggled together on the couch watching Karate Kid(1984). Annabeth was munching down on caramel drizzled popcorn while Percy was incessantly murmuring things to himself like _Mr. Miyagi is underrated_ and _You could totally pull that off, Percy_.

Annabeth couldn't help but feel happy, and didn't take the time to feel guilty about it while Peter was probably off somewhere, traumatized and angry and alone... And now she was feeling guilty.

Pulling herself from her thoughts, she once again directed her attention to the movie, only to see white letters scrolling down the screen. Sighing, Annabeth grabbed the remote and hit the power button.

"Hey!" Annabeth turned to a frustrated looking Percy.

"What?"

"I was watching that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It was the credits, Seaweed Brain."

"It was my jam!"

Annabeth was about to shoot another insult at him when she heard a knock on the door. Percy shot her a puzzled glance. Annabeth was confused too. What was it with people randomly showing up at her hotel room today without letting her know ahead of time? 

Percy jumped off the couch and had the door opened before Annabeth could even move. Outside in the hallway stood a scared looking Peter, who obviously didn't expect a noticeably muscular teenage guy to open the door. Percy looked kind of angry to see him.

"What do you want?" Percy all but growled, making Peter jump.

"Uh, sorry, I think I might have the wrong door... I'll just-"

"He doesn't have the wrong door, Percy." She shot him a glare, and he hesitantly backed away from the door.

"Hey, Peter!" She grinned, and stepped closer to the door.

"Uh.. I just came to say sorry for ditching you earlier. Sorry for not texting ahead of time-" 

"Yeah, its fine, Peter," She interrupted, "I needed to talk to you anyway."

Annabeth ushered him into rhe room, before turning to Percy. 

"Percy, this is my friend Peter, Peter this is my... boyfriend."

She grimaced at the last word. It just didn't explain what Percy was to her, and she was angry at herself for not being able to come up with a different one. 

"Nice to meet you." Peter murmured, looking extremely uncomfortable. Percy continued to glare. Annabeth cleared her throat loudly, causing both boys to turn their eyes to her.

"Uh, Percy, its been great, but your busy, remember?" She voiced, giving him the _that's your cue to get out look._

"Uh, I'm not busy." Percy retorted, giving her the _I'm not sure how I fell about this look_.

"Yes. Your very busy!" She exclaimed, pushing him towards the door.

"Love you, bye!" She smiled brightly, before shutting the door behind him and not moving until she could no longer hear his retreating footsteps. Sighing, Annabeth turned to Peter, who looked somewhere between laughing and crying.

She jogged the short distance to the couch and absentmindedly brushed popcorn off it, before grabbing the jumbled blankets and tossing them over the side of the sofa.

"Sit down!" Annabeth beckoned Peter over to the couch, before slumping onto the seat herself.

"I honestly don't know why I came over, Annabeth. Its just, a lot has happened since this morning and I felt like talking to you for some reason-"

"Well, I'm glad you came, because I have something to tell you too."

...

She was smart. Clever. He should've known she'd figure it out.

He should've been more careful leaving Starbucks today.

He shouldn't have been so arrogant, using his web shooters to get to their meetings just to impress her. Or frustrate her, rather.

Annabeth knew he was spider-man.

"You didn't tell anyone, did you?" He all but whispered, afraid for anyone nearby to hear.

"No. Of course not."

"Not even your... boyfriend?" Annabeth winced. What was it with her and that word?

"No."

Peter slid further down into the couch and groaned. This day wasn't going very good for him. Not at all.

"Peter," Annabeth started tentatively, "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

Peter eyed her wearily from his slumped position.

"I'd think you'd already know." He grumbled, fighting the urge to throw up all over himself. Annabeth hesitated for a moment, before answering kind of guiltily.

"Yeah. The place that got bombed in Queens was your apartment. I'm so sorry, Peter."

Annabeth opened her mouth to say more, but apparently decided against it, instead leaning down closer to him.

Peter breathed in, out, 3 times, more shallowly with each lungful, before licking his lips.

"There were no survivors," Peter all but whispered, and he felt tears pool in his eyes.

He blinked ferociously, turning to Annabeth. Suddenly, he saw something dawn in her eyes, and she looked again at Peter.

"Peter," She gasped, "Was your Aunt at home when the bomb exploded?"

And suddenly Peter couldn't take it any more. All of the pain and anger and regret and sadness burst from him all at once, and he started sobbing. 

He didn't register when Annabeth put her hands around him and pulled him towards her, or when he stopped crying. It was just like a dream. A horrible dream.

Everything moved slowly around him, all noise of the outside world muted to his ears.

It was just him, and his pain, and regret, and anger.

And Annabeth.

...

They sat like that for a while, Annabeth holding Peter against her, each of them dwelling in the silence around them.

Peter stopped crying after about 20 minutes, but neither of the teenagers moved from their current position. Annabeth listened as his ragged breaths start to fade to normal-human breathing, and finally decided to pull away from him.

"Peter?" She tried, forcing him to look at her. "You have somewhere to stay, right?"

Peter sniffed, and offered a small smile. 

"Yeah. I'm staying at the Avengers tower. There are plenty of guest rooms available."

Annabeth nodded, satisfied with the answer. She opened her mouth to speak, stuttered, and closed it again. _gods of olympus, I can't believe what I'm about to tell him._

_"_ Peter?" She stuttered, feeling extremely uncomfortable. "You know how I just, like, figured out a big secret of yours?" 

Peter looked like he might start crying again, so she hurriedly continued.

"Well, I guess I feel like I owe you a secret of my own."

Peter eyed her quizically, waiting for her to speak again.

"I'm- I'm a demigod."

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. There was a bit of angst in that chapter, I know... But Percy showed up! So its all good. 
> 
> I have a random question that has nothing to do with this fic *cough* Who do y'all think would win in a wrestling match? Natasha Romanov or Annabeth Chase? Let me know in the comments.
> 
> Kudos or comments if your willing, they keep me from turning into a bloodthirsty crank (if you got that reference, I love you!) ;) ;) 
> 
> Updates will slow down a bit after this chapter, because 8th grade doesn't leave a person with very much freetime:(:(. But updates will come AT LEAST once a week, so stay in touch!


	3. Its a Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the third chapter!   
>  This is the last update before I go back to school, so chapters will come a bit slower after this. Thanks to all of you who are reading, you make my day!  
>  Enjoy! ;)
> 
> Ps, I'm so sorry for the spacing. I've been trying to fix it, but it seems to be my fatal weakness as a writer. :(

She talked. He listened. Annabeth told Peter all about Camp half-blood, and her parents (specifically the one who was the Greek goddess of wisdom.) She talked about how she had ran away from home when she was seven, how she had met Luke and Thalia. She spoke of how she had always wanted to go on a quest, and her frustration of never getting one. She told Peter about when she had met Percy, and how he was a son of Poseidon. She told him about the prophesy, and Luke's death, and becoming the official architect of Olympus after the Battle with Kronos. She choked out the time when Percy went missing for 8 months, and finding him in Camp Jupiter. She spoke of the quest to save the world from Gaea, and living on Leo's war ship, all the while trying to keep Camp Jupiter from going to war with Camp Halfblood. She was very vague when she talked about falling into tartarus with Percy, and barely making it out alive. Annabeth told Peter everything after tartarus, all the way to the presumed death of Leo Valdez, and going to college with Percy in New Rome. And how Leo had shown up 3 months later, with a brand new hot girlfriend.

"So let me get this straight," Peter started, confusion written all over his face. They had been talking for hours, and Annabeth's throat was rubbed raw as a result. "Leo died," Peter continued, "And came back? Like _Harry Potter?_ "

"Out of everything I just told you, that's what's confusing?"

"Annabeth, I'm Spider-man." Peter smiled. "I swing from literal webs. I've played Uno with a god of lightning who eats 3 boxes of pop-tarts for breakfast. I planned a prank on _literal_ Iron Man with the _literal_ Princess of Wakanda just last week. Nothing is crazy to me anymore." Peter paused. "Except for drastic cases of autoresuscitation, I suppose." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Ok, number one, I'm surprised you even know that word." Peter snorted. "And number two, it wouldn't be autoresuscitation, because he did come back to life with assistance- he had a potion, or something." Peter huffed, closing his eyes.

"Well, your totally gonna have to take me to meet this guy later." Annabeth smiled. She didn't feel completely comfortable telling Peter her life-long story. The last time she had shared so much was to Damasen in tartarus, nearly a year ago. Peter listened intently though, and it seemed she had taken his mind off of the traumatic events of the day.

"So it seems we've both got places to take each other," Annabeth replied, grinning. "I take you to Camp Half-Blood, you take me to Avengers tower."

"Sounds like a fair deal to me!" Peter all but giggled, throwing his hand into the air between them for her to shake. She took it and moved her arm up in down in a rather vigorous manner, giggling with him. The events of the past couple of hours had taken a toll on both of the teenager's sanity, and they were both past delirium. That was probably why it took Annabeth a couple of seconds before the ringing of her phone reached her ears, and still a couple more moments before she focused her eyes enough to see who was calling. _Percy_.

"Oh!" She exclaimed happily, before grabbing the phone and putting it to her ear.

"Hey, Percy!" She laughed, glancing towards a now more alert looking Peter, though he was still smiling brightly. Geez, they had to get it together. They could've been drunk for as much sense this made.

"Annabeth? Are you giggling?" Percy asked incredulously. Annabeth coughed in an effort to mask her uncontrollable giggling, resulting in Peter just laughing harder.

"Annabeth! Don't tell me your still with that Peter-guy. If you 2 are making out on that couch I swear to you-"

"αγάπη μου, you have no faith in me!" Annabeth interrupted, smiling in spite of Percy's jealous accusations. Annabeth heard Percy sigh over the phone before he continued. 

"Anyway, I had some stuff I needed to tell you about before you kicked me out-"

"You were here for 4 hours!" Annabeth argued, even though she did feel kind of guilty about forcing Percy out so suddenly. "Anyway," Percy raised his voice over her, "Do you want to go get dinner? Otherwise I'll just break the news to you over text.."

Annabeth lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "What news?" She asked, glancing toward Peter, who was twiddling with his thumbs in his lap.

"Well you'll just have to figure out, won't you?" He answered almost gleefully. She could tell Percy was enjoying her ignorance.

"Listen, just meet me at that place a couple blocks away from your apartment. You know, the one with the really good pizza? It'll be my treat."

"Yeah, whatever," Annabeth replied in a frustrated tone. She didn't like not knowing things. It made her feel vulnerable. Hanging up, she tossed the phone on the couch she hadn't moved from for quite a while. The delirium was the only thing masking her exhaustion, and she couldn't imagine what the boy sitting next to her was feeling. She turned to Peter. His guarded form had turned to one a bit more relaxed since she had ended her call with Percy. It was almost like he was scared of him.

"Sorry, Peter, but I've got to go. I'll text you later" she added, before pulling Peter into a hug and clumsily standing from the sofa. It took her quite a few moments to regain her footing before she headed for the door. Peter followed close behind her, and soon they were both standing in the hallway outside of her room. Peter turned to her, words in his eyes, but he didn't say anything. Instead he offered her a smile smile, before waving and turning to the nearest elevator. Annabeth waved back, until the electric doors had closed and he was gone.

...

Peter cursed himself for not saying anything to Annabeth. A thank you would have been nice, at least. But after all that had happened today, he didn't have many words to say.

Well he did have one word, actually, but it wasn't a very nice one.

Peter rubbed his hands down his face, still trying to wake himself from the dream like state he had been in for the last couple of hours. It had been a crazy day. Peter walked down the crowded streets of Manhattan, not really thinking about where he was going.

Before he new it, he was standing in front of the entrance of Avengers tower. _Why had he come here? Well, this is going to be where you live for a while. Where else were you going to go?_

Sighing, Peter walked through the glass doors and strode right to the elevators to take him to the floor where his new bedroom would be. Tony had let him choose before he had gone over to Annabeth's, and he had picked absentmindedly, not really alert of anything he was doing. His memory still seemed to be in perfect condition, though, because he remembered the floor and room number, and recognized the interior as soon as he stepped in.

The room wasn't incredibly big, compared to some of the rooms in the tower. It had a spacious desk in the far right hand corner, with lots of drawers Mr. Stark had promised to fill with tools, chemistry equipment, and legos. The left corner of the room was occupied by a bed that could hold at least 4 full grown adults, and it was piled with comfy looking pillows and soft sheets. But the reason Peter probably chose the room in his anguish was because of the huge window, taking up almost the whole wall. The floor Peter was on was pretty high, and through the thin sheet of glass was a spectacular view of the city. Peter smiled despite the panic and exhaustion burdening his shoulders, and all but jumped into the pile of pillows, sighing in relief.

He stared out at the sky just beginning to darken, and thought about what he might be doing if it was a normal day. Perhaps hanging out with Ned and MJ, and maybe even Annabeth, relieved that the time-consuming project he had completed with her was finally over. He would probably be helping Aunt May cook dinner, or rather, insisting he help her as she shooed him out of the kitchen with a wooden spoon.

Peter thought the tears would come, but they didn't. He was past feeling sorrow, past the short bout of delirium he had shared with Annabeth. All he felt was empty. Peter kept watching the quickly darkening sky, and eventually gave in to his tired body and closed his eyes.

... 

When Peter woke up it was still dark outside. With a quick glance at his watch, he knew he had only been sleeping for an hour. It didn't take very long for him to realize why his time of peace had been so short.

"Tony, honestly. Just leave the kid alone!"

"He could be dead, for all I know! He showed up without telling anybody and he's been in their for a while-"

"Tony, for crying out loud, your so overprotective!" Peter listened to Pepper and Tony grind at each other, crossed between some feeling of amusement and aggravation. After about a minute more of their arguing, Peter decided he was getting a headache.

"I'm not dead, Tony!" He shouted, and the hallway quieted. Soon the door was open and the bright light of the outside world was billowing into the room, making Peter blink long and hard to keep himself from being blinded. Tony apparently noticed the aggravation in his voice, because he muttered, "Sorry for waking you up, kid." He heard Pepper snort out in the hallway.

Peter offered a smile that turned out to be more of a wince.

"Sorry I didn't tell you I was here." Peter was tired. He really didn't want to talk to anyone. It seemed he had used the last of his energy on his chat with Annabeth, and the small nap he had had had done nothing to refuel it.

And Tony's anxiety certainly wasn't helping.

"Oh, kid, you don't have to alert me-"

"But a heads up would probably be best," Pepper interrupted, pushing past Tony and offering Peter an apologetic smile, "unless you want this guy to have a have a heart attack. Sleep tight, Peter."

Tony opened his mouth to protest, but Pepper intercepted.

"Peter's not dead, Tony." She stated with an air of finality, shoving Tony out pf the doorway. She offered him another small smile before stepping out of the dark room and gently closing the door behind her.

Peter sighed in relief, and once again rested his head on a dramatically thick pillow and closing his eyes. It wasn't 5 minutes before Peter was once again drifting in the dark empty oblivion of sleep.

...

"So what's the news?" Annabeth urged Percy impatiently.

"Chill out, Wise girl, we haven't even ordered our food yet!" Percy laughed, obviously still enjoying the effects of keeping her in the dark. Annabeth groaned, and Percy just laughed harder.

When Annabeth had arrived at the diner, Percy had been waiting in the parking lot for her. She shut the door to the car and Percy raced to the restaurant's entrance, holding the door open for her and waiting patiently for her to a walk in on his good deed. Annabeth had rolled her eyes. As adorable as this jealous puppy ordeal was, she was impatient for this so called "news" and thoroughly frustrated at the fact that Percy knew something she didn't.

"So, the first thing we need to address," Percy started, pushing her arm playfully across the table, " Is why you've been living in a crappy hotel room for the past 6 weeks while you've been working on the Peter-project-"

Annabeth started, trying to interrupt, but Percy spoke louder.

"When you _could've_ just stayed at my apartment with mom and Paul!"

"We already talked about this," Annabeth sighed impatiently, "And I told you, Percy, your mom just had a baby. She doesn't need _you_ ," she gestured frantically across the table at him, "and a brand new baby, and me!"

"But you wouldn't be trouble!" Percy whined, grabbing her hand. "You know you wouldn't."

Annabeth set her jaw. "I payed for three more weeks in the hotel room, I'm living for three more weeks in the hotel room! Besides, summer is starting soon, and then I'll have Camp Half-Blood." Percy looked like he wanted to protest, but a large pizza was set in front of them, and he sighed, defeated. Annabeth muttered a small thanks to the tired looking waitress, who nodded in response.

Annabeth returned her gaze to Percy to find that a large chunk of the dinner had already disappeared from the box, and Percy's plate and mouth were filled with cheesy pizza. Percy gestured to the box on the table through his large mouthful, and Annabeth tentatively picked up 2 slices and set them on her plate.

She nibbled anxiously, waiting for Percy to finish his plate-full and enlighten her with the knowledge he had. Percy finally ate his plate clean, and she smiled at him with as much patience in her gaze as she could muster.

Then she slapped his hand when he reached for his fifth slice.

"Enough already!" She pleaded. "You don't need that much grease in your body anyway. In fact, I won't kiss you until I have supervised that you brush your teeth thoroughly for 5 minutes and floss after this."

Percy laughed, retracting his hand from the now almost empty box. "Ok, ok, didn't mean to keep you waiting!" He teased, and she glared.

"Well," he started, "I'm going to California in about a week."

Annabeth startled. She hadn't been expecting that. "What? Why?" Annabeth waited for Percy's answer, only to find that he was taking an incredibly long drink of his Coke. Annabeth drummed her fingers on the hard table for a moment, becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Percy!" She shouted, making an old man in the booth behind her jump. Percy smiled through his cup, before setting it down and licking his lips.

"Well, I'm going to ask your dad for a favor." Percy smiled, obviously wanting to say more but holding it back.

"What favor?" She quizzed incredulously. Percy looked at her, and his smile widened. She waited for him to continue, but his mouth was closed.

"What favor, Percy?" She nearly slammed her fist onto the table. He moved forward on the seat and leaned towards her. "Its-" 

Annabeth lifted her eyebrows.

"A surprise." He sat back in his seat and didn't stop laughing for a long while.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And... That was that.  
>  Kudos or comments if you are willing, they are my unexpected cure to Letumosis  
>  (If you got that reference, your super cool ;) )


	4. I Thought I was a Genius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long wait but it's been a long week. I apologize, this chapter is kind short, but I think something drastic will happen in the next chapter. Probably.  
> So let me just set something straight so as not to confuse anybody. This story is set lets say before Infinity War. Someone killed Thanos before he snapped his fingers; I don't know who. Basically everyone is alive. Vision is all good, and so is Natasha. Captain America did not go back in time to be with Peggy. Morgan is alive tho, even tho no one got snapped and 5 years didn't go by with only half of the universe.  
>  And lets also just say all of the demi-gods are about a year older than they were after the whole Argo II trip. (I know the times don't match up but we are pretending they do.)   
> We're just pretending okie dokie guys none of this has to make sense. Don't ask questions..  
> Enjoy! ;)

"So why wouldn't you just tell me the news a few days before you go to California? Why tell me a week before?"

Annabeth had been trying to get Percy to tell her his "surprise" ever since he had finally stopped laughing. They had spent at least 2 hours at the diner already and waiters and waitresses were starting to shoot them annoyed looks as they walked past the table.

"Well, I probably won't see you again before I leave," He replied, taking a large bite out pf his seventh slice of pizza and chewing slowly. _Yeesh. How much_ _food can this guy hold_?

"What? Why not?"

Percy smirked at her. "You know, you forget that even though you finished college in a couple of months, I still have almost 4 years of it." Annabeth sighed. Even though the school in New Rome let demi-gods start earlier in age(you never know when your going to die) didn't mean that Percy wasn't going to be busy for the next couple of years.

"Besides, I have to go to Camp Half-Blood. I promised I would visit Tyson before I left, too. And I need him to make something for me." 

"What?" Percy looked up at her, a smug expression on his lips, and she already knew what he was going to say.

"Its a surprise," he stated, looking straight into her eyes and trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. Annabeth slumped down in the booth, tired of the useless conversation.

...

"I'll text you when I stop for the night at the hotel in Missouri," Percy reassured her, throwing his last bag into the trunk of the rental car and slamming it closed. Annabeth sighed, eyeing the car in distrust.

It had been a week since the frustrating (or hilarious, for him) dinner with Percy, and a lot had happened since then. There had been a funeral for all of the victims of the bombed apartment, a grand thing that had been held in the prestigious Mayer's mansion. Peter hadn't gone. At the same time the funeral was being broadcast, Peter had flew into the ruins in his spiderman suit and mourned there. Alone. The only reason Annabeth knew about it was because they had interrupted the live funeral broadcast to show a shaky recording of a bright red Spider-Man sitting amidst piles of debris and shrapnel.

The video probably belonged to a bored guy wondering the streets in hopes of finding something halfway interesting, if Annabeth could guess. What a surprise he had gotten. If Peter had known he was being recorded, he hadn't cared. _He really shouldn't wear a costume so bright._

The media hadn't known what to make of it. They had left the funeral so quickly it was questionable why the nosey snobs had been there in the first place, scrambling to the ruins to catch a glimpse of Spider-Man and maybe even interview him. Except Peter was gone before they got there, number one, and number two: the site was surrounded by bright yellow caution tape and was therefore off-limits.

 _Ha. Dummies._

"Its just a car, Annabeth. If we have to fight, I'd totally win, you know." Annabeth shook out of the flashback, realizing Percy had noticed her weary gaze towards the car.

"I just wish you would fly," she complained, returning her attention to him. Percy just stared at her for a long moment, jaw slack in shock.

"What?" He gasped incredulously, looking like she had just said something really stupid. Annabeth looked at Percy like that often. "

Fly? Annabeth, have you forgotten about the, like, king of Olympus who makes crazy storms and lightning and, by the way, happens to _hate me_?" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Just leave him some of your moms cooking as a burnt offering and you'll be good for the next few days," she deadpanned.

"Whatever. What's so good about flying anyway?"

"Its faster, less traffic, not to mention the fact that there's less of a chance you'll run into revenge-seeking bloodthirsty greek monsters-"

"Ok, you just totally jinxed me," Percy groaned, sliding his hands down his face. "Look, I've got a 24 hour drive ahead of me. I wouldn't have gotten up at 6 this morning if I didn't have places to be!"

"You didn't get up at 6, Percy, I woke you up at 7 when you wouldn't answer my texts and I realized you were still sleeping."

"That is irrelevant!" Percy cried, jabbing a finger towards her face. Annabeth sighed, realizing how useless the argument was. "You really don't need to drive a straight 24 hours, Percy. Knowing you and your antsy self, that much time in the car is going to be miserable for you."

"I have a schedule to keep!"

"And I'm guessing your not going to let me know what schedule that is?" Percy just groaned, and gave her a look like _why don't you just give up?_

"Just kiss me already and I'll text you at whatever time whenever." Annabeth rolled her eyes once again, but smiled. She walked the short distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, before pulling her lips to his.

...

"What were you thinking, Peter?" Tony was on the verge of yelling now. It was hard for Peter not to wince with each new word thrown at him. The worry and anger on Mr. Stark's face made Peter fill with guilt.

"We thought you just weren't going to the funeral because it would upset you." Steve started, sitting on a nearby couch in the common room. His facial expression resembled that of Tony's, but when he spoke, it was with a calm, clear voice. It somehow made Peter feel even guiltier.

"Then we saw this footage of a guy in a bright red full-body suit just sitting criss-cross in an off-limits bomb site." Steve continued, slowly standing up from his position on the couch. "Your not very sneaky, are you?" Steve laughed without humour.

Peter looked around the room. All of his childhood superheroes were here, sitting on the rugs and various mismatched couches, or standing, in Tony's case. It was one of the rare times that all of the Avengers were together, considering the amount of crime happening every day. Relationships were just finally being mended, what with the last couple years after the disastrous Civil War being spent in awkward silence.

Until Thanos showed up and kind up forced everyone to come together again.

Peter hated the fact that all of these super-heroes were here, together, feeling concerned and angry at him. They could've been doing something much more fun.

"But that's beside the point, Rogers!" Tony all but screamed, making Peter jump and return his gaze to the exhausted looking man. Peter was confused. He felt guilty for worrying Steve and the other Avengers, especially Tony, but he didn't know _why_ Tony was so worried. Its not like anything had happened. No one had discovered his identity. No one had gotten hurt. He really hadn't done anything wrong.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought this way.

"Why are you so angry at the kid, anyway?" Clint asked Tony, leaning against a chair Natasha was sitting on. Tony just glared at the archer, who somehow glared back and remained looking confused at the same time.

"Exactly!" Peter voiced, surprising himself with the sudden outburst. All of the people in the room sort of jumped at his cry, as if just remembering he was there. _How do you forget about the literal guy your arguing about?_

Tony looked at Peter, his face softening. It made Peter kind of angry. He didn't like being looked at that way. It made him feel like a child.

"Peter, its not very often that a bomb is accidentally dropped onto a building," Tony started, his voice soft in an attempt to steady it. "In fact, the chances of the bomb being an accident is so slim its basically impossible."

Peter considered this. With the technology they had today, any carrier would be heavily guarded and tons of safety precautions would be taken to ensure the bomb wouldn't be released until it reached its target. Peter's anger and sadness the past week had clouded his common sense. Accidents rarely happened when it came to killing. Actually, now that he thought about it, nobody even seemed to wonder who had dropped the bomb! He hadn't heard any reports on the news at all. No. It wasn't an accident.

And he couldn't have been the only one who knew this, other than the people in the room with him.

"Its questionable wether the accident was even a dropped bomb." Tony continued, startling Peter out of his thoughts. It took him a moment to process what Mr. Stark had said.

"Not a bomb?" Peter stuttered, utterly confused. "But the building- you know- blew up."

"But," Tony started, a sort of gleam in his eye, one he got when he was thinking, "How many bombs do you know about that only blow up one building?"

Wow. He had a point. Bombs were made for mass destruction. One bomb that only wrecked one building? It didn't make any sense.

"Well what would it be then?" Peter asked, his voice filled with frustration. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of this before, and he was pretty sure the genius standing opposite him had started questioning the moment he saw the footage.

"We're still theorizing," Tony answered almost apologetically, and he saw a nod of ascent from a nearby Bruce Banner who was taking up an entire sofa near the back of the common room.

Peter thought about it. The explosion could've been anything from a couple of carefully placed grenades set off simultaneously to an invasion of highly-reactive aliens. New York was a crazy place, after all.

But none of this really had anything to do with Peter sneaking off to the ruins of the building, and why Tony was upset.

"We still haven't told Peter why using the suit and visiting the site was bad." Vision reminded Tony, and Peter startled. Could that guy read minds?

"Yes," Tony began in an annoyed tone. "I was getting there. So you know it wasn't an accident," Tony turned to Peter, "When your apartment was bombed." Peter nodded. 

"So," he continued "Who exactly was the bomb meant to kill? I've gone through the apartment's occupant list at least 4 times, Peter. You know from experience I'd figure it out if any of the people living in your building had secrets."

Peter did know that from experience. He still hadn't figured out how Tony had known he was spider-man (let alone where he lived) a couple years ago.

"So?"

"So, the only person living in the building who might've made a couple of guys who had access to kick-butt weapons angry is Spider-man."

Wait. So Tony was saying... They'd blown up the apartment complex because they thought Spider-Man lived there? Peter hadn't told anyone his secret identity. No one that would try and blow him up, anyway.

And suddenly it hit him. Why Tony was angry. Why going to the ruins of his own apartment in his suit was a bad idea. The people who blew up his apartment must've suspected that Spider-Man lived there. They could have plenty to theorize about, too.

Peter thought about all of the times when he had swung into his bedroom window seconds before curfew and a lecture from Aunt May. All the times he'd flown out of his apartment window. Steve's words echoed in his head: Your not very sneaky, are you? They could've seen all of it.

"The footage of you in the remains of your apartment could very well have been confirmation to the bombers that Spider-Man did live in the apartment they bombed."Tony explained, finishing Peter's thoughts for him. Peter nodded, letting him know he understood his own mistake. Showing up in the suit would confirm that they had indeed destroyed Spider-Man's home. But Spider-Man wasn't in it.

And now they knew that, too. They knew they'd failed to kill him. They'd try again. They might even know he lived in Avenger's tower now. Hopefully not, but maybe.

But that wasn't what bothered Peter. Everyone in the apartment died because he happened to live there, and he wasn't careful to enough to keep the little fact hidden.

And no matter if the occupants were innocent or not, they stilled died because of him. Aunt May had died because of him.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. I kind of read through this after I already wrote and posted it and realized that a car trip from New York to Missouri is a lot longer than I anticipated. So one of these scenes has been heavily edited. Sorry for any of y'all that already read it.  
> Thankyou so much for reading, it brightens my day. Kudos or comments if you can, I'd love to hear predictions, feedback, anything you want to tell me. ;)


	5. Awkward Parties (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just say, I am super sorry for the late update. This chapter isn't really finished, but I've split it into 2 parts because I really needed to give y'all something new.  
> And I lied. The drastic thing doesn't happen until next chapter (sorry!)  
> If you haven't already noticed, this is my first fanfic, and I'm kind of just writing it as I go. Stick with me here.  
> Anywayyyy, enough of my ranting. Enjoy the story. ;)

Annabeth sat on her lumpy bed in the hotel room, sheets sprawled across the floor around the piece of furniture after being kicked off in annoyance. She had grown sweaty under the layers, but was shivering now in the air conditioning. She made no attempt to retrieve the sheets from the messy floor, however, or leave her place on the bed to go mess with the thermostat on the other side of the room.

She just couldn't remove her eyes from the screen that was no doubt damaging her brain in some way. The blue light coming from the phone was the only light in the small bedroom other than an ugly lamp on the nightstand by her bed, and Annabeth was staring at it unwavering, tapping lightly with her fingernail when the screen dimmed in an attempt to shut off.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Each tap of the screen came with more force, impatience the energy behind the small acts. Why was he taking so long? Why did he have to torture her and make her wait? And worry? And torture her phone and her brain and her poor discarded bed sheets?

Annabeth had been waiting for Percy to text her _for_ _forever_. She needed to know he was okay. That he hadn't been slaughtered by monsters. That he was only 10 minutes late of alerting her of his safety because of traffic or something else completely normal.

Wait. _Only_ _ten minutes!_ He'd only been delayed ten minutes so far from his arrival time?

Annabeth slumped into the only pillow still on the bed and groaned. She was acting like her dad. As if Percy had never gone on a trip before. As if being delayed a couple of minutes wasn't anything but normal. Percy was fine. And he'd text her when he got to the hotel. Annabeth tapped her phone screen with less force as it dimmed again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Annabeth let out a strangled cry of annoyance. Why hadn't he texted her yet? It had been... She glanced at the time at the top right-hand corner of her phone.

 _13 minutes_.

Annabeth once again slammed her head into her mistreated pillow, stifling a curse. She didn't need to curse anybody over something as silly as this. She'd dealt with curses. It wasn't fun.

Annabeth heard a soft ding from the torture device clenched tightly in her hand and snapped her face away from her pillow. She clicked her messages icon and prayed to Athena it was Percy and he was okay and he-

_1 new message from Peter._

Sighing, she clicked one the message. She wasn't unhappy to receive a text from Peter. She just wanted to hear from a different guy at the moment.

_Hey._

_Hey yourself,_ she texted back.

_Wyd?_

Annabeth pondered the simple message. _Well, I'm waiting for the human equivalent of a torture machine to text me and I've been staring at this dumb screen for what feels like ages but has only been_ 15 minutes, she wanted to rant, but relented. She didn't want to sound impatient and overprotective.

Which is exactly what she was.

 _I'm just waiting for Percy to text me and let me know he made it to Missouri_ , she replied. It wasn't a lie. She just wasn't going to get into detail.

_Missouri? Why?_

Oh. Right. Annabeth hadn't seen Peter in person since she'd told him her entire demi-god life story, though they'd exchanged a couple of short text-chats and awkward phone calls since then. It seemed the bombing had not left Peter's mind (she didn't expect it to anytime soon), and it was hard for Annabeth to find anything worthwhile to say to him.

Annabeth had been through tons of trauma in her life. She was pretty sure Peter had too. Annabeth knew what it felt like to think no one understands the pain your going through, like the entire world is against you. People saying things like "You'll be ok," and "Everything will get better soon" just made Annabeth want to throw up. She knew they were just trying to be nice, optimistic, but in the heat of the moment, it didn't look like anything would ever get better. Especially in the event that someone dies. They're not coming back. And how can you get better when they leave and take a whole piece of your heart?

So Annabeth had kind of left Peter to his own devices, talking to him when he wanted to talk, leaving him alone otherwise. She knew Peter took a hard hit with the loss of his home, and his Aunt, and she wasn't expecting him to be able to cope so soon after the accident.

 _He's stopping at a hotel in some city in Missouri, I think Rolla? He's going to California to see my parents_ , she replied, stepping out of her thoughts.

 _I forgot I didn't tell you about it_ , she added as a quick afternote.

_Why is he going to California?_

Annabeth felt a smug expression play at her lips as she typed out her answer.

_It's a surprise. Apparently._

Annabeth saw the little bubbles popping up at the bottom of the screen indicating Peter was about to give a probable snarky reply, when her phone dinged.

_1 new message from Percy._

Annabeth nearly dropped her phone, before regaining her stability and clicking on the new message.

_I'm not dead! :0_

Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing into her bed. A ding alerted her that Peter had added a message to their ongoing conversation, but she ignored it for the moment.

 _No attacks, or casualties as a result?_ She asked, knowing it was probably to much to hope for.

_Nope. Unless you count the pigeon that pooped on the windshield. It was super gross._

Annabeth blanched. No attacks? A whole-day of driving across the country with no greek demons trying to suck out your soul?

For a demi-god, that had to be, like, a record or something.

Another ding sounded from the conversation with Peter, and Annabeth swiped it away hastily. Percy had to be joking with her. There was just absolutely no way that no monster didn't notice a son of Poseidon seemingly unprotected driving through the states.

 _Honest. Weird right?_ Percy said.

 _You read my mind,_ She replied, as another ding sounded from her chat with Peter. He probably thought she was dead.

 _I'm going to bed_ , Percy texted.

He probably would be tired. He'd been driving a full 24 hours, for crying out loud. And he had a lot of driving to do tomorrow. Annabeth had tried to convince Percy to split the trip up into more days, but he had ignored her. He said he didn't want to spend to much time sleeping in hotels and he had a schedule to hold. _What schedule? Well, its a surprise._

 _Love you_ , Annabeth texted, before swiping out of the text and into the one with Peter. 3 new messages awaited her, one much more dramatic than the first two.

_Huh. I get the feeling you don't like surprises._

_So, I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow?_

And

_Annabeth? You haven't been eaten, have you?_

Annabeth laughed despite the comment. It was easy to turn to harsh conclusions when your reply delay could be anything from her phone dying to being impaled on a stake by a chimera and eaten like a shish-ka-bob.

_Sorry. No, I'm not dead. I was talking to Percy_

Peter replied almost immediately, and Annabeth had a feeling he had pulled a leaf out of her book and had been staring at his phone screen the last couple of minutes in impatience.

_Oh. Guess I overreacted. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to the Tower tomorrow?_

Annabeth was surprised by this offer. Just a little while ago, she had guessed Peter was depressed, and wanted to be left alone. Now he wanted her to come to Avenger's Tower? He must be coping more than she thought.

_What's the occasion?_

_Well, Mr. Stark was saying some dumb stuff about.... forgetting things? And having fun? So I was thinking, you and Ned and MJ could come over and... have fun, I guess?_

Annabeth could practically hear the doubt in his voice. Obviously, Stark had tried to take on the role of therapist and had encouraged Peter to try and forget about all that had happened. She didn't know that that was the smartest way to solve things, shoving your pain deep down and pretending it wasn't there. It wasn't coping at all, just holding it off until later.

 _I did promise I'd take you if you took me to your camp sometime_ , Peter added.

Annabeth sighed. A day with Peter at the tower and out of the crappy hotel room would be fun, and though she had only met Ned and MJ once or twice, they seemed nice enough. Or Ned, at least. Plus, it'd give her something to do with college over and Percy gone.

_Sure, I'll go. What time?_

_..._

Peter was doubtful. He had never invited MJ or Annabeth to the tower, because MJ had only recently admitted her suspicions of him being Spider-man and bringing a seemingly unknowing girl to a tower full of super humans with super-human suits hadn't seemed a great idea anytime the opportunity presented itself. Plus, _the snap_ kind of- delayed things. So it would be a first time for his girlfriend (it was a word he could use now) and his project partner (who was also his friend) to come to the Avenger's tower.

It would be a little bit awkward, because MJ hated everyone, and he didn't know how she would feel about Peter having another woman in his life that wasn't his aunt.

But that wasn't what he was really worried about.

Peter hadn't seen any of his friends in person in at least a week. He didn't know what he'd think when they saw him.

Peter tried to avoid mirrors, but he somehow always came upon his reflection even when he didn't want to. He looked like he felt: his usual chocolate brown eyes were dulled and sunken, the bags beneath them unnaturally heavy. His skin was pale, and his used-to-be curly hair now seemed to have stuck to his forehead in strands. He needed a shower.

He found that the usual energy that ran through his veins had left him, and he slouched everywhere. He talked less. Smiled less. It just seemed that it took to much from him to make these little things happen.

When Peter had seen the footage of the bombing, he had been horrified. Angry. But not like this. Not depressed. Because they had said it was an accident. And he hadn't taken the time to question them.

But then Tony had let Peter in on the secret: It wasn't an accident. It might not even have been a bomb. But there was one thing they were sure of- the bombers were after Spider-man. So it was Peter's fault.

Tony had noticed Peter's knew personality. He was pretty sure everyone had. Every time he entered the common room he felt pitying eyes on him, but somehow he just didn't care. Peter's life just wasn't worth living anymore, because how could you even _want_ to live when there was so much blood on your hands?

Tony had taken Peter aside real quick. He had asked him what was wrong, as if he didn't already know. He had told Peter that trauma was hard to deal with, but if he could just look at all of the good things he had done, of all the good things he still had, he would eventually accept what happened. He'd know he couldn't have done anything to stop what had happened. It was best to just look to the future, and let your terrible past fuel you to do better things.

Peter didn't know how he had gotten _forget about it_ out of all of that juicy stuff, and yet that's exactly what his goal now was. He knew it would never work. Nevertheless, that was his goal.

So he resolved to inviting his friends to the tower in an attempt to forget about the bombing. And Aunt May. If anything could make him happy, it was Ned fanboying over star-wars or MJ offering him a smile he rarely ever saw or Annabeth making sure they were being productive and not losing their heads.

They were going to be here in 2 hours. He really needed to take a shower, and put on something other than a baggy worn t-shirt of Tony's and spaghetti stained sweatpants.

Peter slowly came out of his curled position on his bed where he had been texting Annabeth and pondering his dark thoughts, and prepared to head to the bathroom two doors down the hallway and cleanse himself of all the sweat and stench that had settled on his body since his dreaded chat with Tony.

And maybe some of the dark thoughts and guilt and pain would wash off of him with the hot pressurized water, and go straight down the drain. If he was lucky.

Peter felt his spirits lift somewhat at the thought of cleanliness as he opened his door.

And there Tony was, his ear pressed to the door.

"Mr. Stark!", Peter cried out in surprise. How had he not known Tony was there? He must've been more exhausted then he thought, his Spider-sense didn't work very well when he was tired.

Tony backed away quickly, nearly tripping over his own two feet as he backed into the wall across from the door.

"Were you _stalking me_?" Peter asked incredulously, shutting his door behind him.

"Well, I was just wondering if you would take my advice and invite your friends over," Tony replied weakly.

"Uh, yeah, I did actually," Peter started a little hesitantly, "But I just texted. I didn't call."

"Oh. Ok."

Peter didn't know what had happened between him and Mr. Stark. Tony had taken on sort of overprotective quality since the bombing, something Peter was sure had been there before but that he was just now noticing. He didn't really know how he felt about it, or how he felt about living in the Avengers tower, but he wasn't going to complain. He'd be on the streets if it wasn't for Mr. Stark.

"Anyway- they'll be here in a couple of hours, and so I better go take a shower-" Peter tried to dive around Tony, but he gabbed Peter's arms and held him to where their faces were almost right across from each other.

"Listen Peter. I know a lot has happened this week, and I don't expect it to not effect you. I know we had a talk yesterday, and I don't know if it helped or not-" Tony had stopped to Peters vigorous and probably unconvincing nod. "- But the fact of the matter is, your in pain. And you don't need to carry this burden on your own. I'm always here for you, and so is everyone else here. We all care about you, Peter. A lot."

Peter did't know what to say. He felt oddly touched, and kind of guilty. Peter had made his ultimate goal to forget- to bury his pain, and yet here Tony was telling Peter not to do _exactly_ that.

Peter wanted Mr. Stark to know he was grateful. That he'd do anything for him. But he just didn't want to make other people carry his burden. Peter just didn't think Mr. Stark understood.

Peter didn't tell Tony any of this, though, instead offering him a small smile. His shoulders relaxed in the mans grasp, and he pulled him into a hug. Peter's hugs were his other super-power. No one could resist, he knew.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark."

Peter heard Tony sigh, and put one of his hands on his back. With the other, he ran his fingers through the remains of Peter's curls that weren't matted and sticky with sweat. It wasn't a lot.

But the gesture made Peter feel relaxed, just as when his Aunt had done it and his Uncle before they had died.

Tony pulled Peter tighter to his chest and rubbed soothing circles on his back. They stood like this for what seemed like an hour, but was really only a minute or two. Finally Tony pulled away from Peter and once again held him at shoulder length, a mixture of concern and happiness in his eyes.

"You really do stink, you know. A shower is probably a very good idea," Tony finally spoke, his voice weak with emotion. (No one could resist Peter's hugs, and this was proof of that.)

"I'm kind of a genius that way." Peter replied, grinning.

"Well, I suppose a bit of me must've rubbed off on you,"

"Or vice-versa," Peter countered, earning a pathetic eye-roll from Mr.Stark.

"Alright, that's enough of that, mister," Tony all but laughed, pushing Peter gently towards the bathroom. "Go take a shower."

"Aye aye, sir," Peter cried, saluting Mr. Stark and trying to keep a straight face, before marching into the overly large and fancy bathroom and shutting the door behind him.

...

The tower was so tall. And so _clean_ looking, for some weird reason. Compared to all of the trashy, run down buildings with flickering retro signs and cigarette butts littering the doorways, the Avenger's tower was practically heaven. The sidewalk outside was newly swept and practically shining. The two glass-paneled doors led into a prestigious entry hall, with intimidating guards in uniform around every corner and gleaming chandeliers that reflected on the tiled floor that might as well have been a mirror.

Annabeth didn't let her surprise get in the way for long, though- She wasn't sure if Peter had told those guards she was coming, but she wasn't going to take time to figure it out. She put a determined look on her face and lifted her chin, and walked towards the nearest elevator as if she owned the place. She didn't glance at anyone around her,kept her focus only on the shining metal doors that would soon be sliding open for her. If Annabeth believed she belonged there, others couldn't help but believe it too.

She felt suspicious glances on her back, but didn't see anyone move through her peripheral vision. Her steps did not fault. She made it all the way to the shining metal doors and pressed the up button, and waited patiently for the doors to slide open and for her. She still felt stares, but she had a feeling Peter had told the people in charge she would be here, because still no one moved towards her.

Or maybe her act was just really convincing.

The doors slid open in front of her with a soft _ding,_ and she took a brisk step into the small space. She turned toward the now closing doors, catching more suspicious looks still directed at her. The doors finally clanked shut, and Annabeth let out a relieved exhale, and glanced around, expecting the feeling of the ground falling out from under you as the elevator began advancing towards a higher floor. Only it didn't happen.

And that was when Annabeth realized she hadn't pressed a floor for the elevator to move to, and _she didn't know_ what floor to go to.

There were 49 floors to choose from on the wall across from her. _49 floors._

Where on earth was she supposed to start?

"Welcome to Avenger's tower, Annabeth."

Annabeth cried out in surprise and looked around. She saw a camera in the corner of the elevator and a small speaker beside it, and realized the voice was an AI. That new her name. Peter did give a heads up to the Avenger's staff, then.

This kind of disappointed Annabeth. Despite logic, she wanted to think that she hadn't been touched upon entering because she was just _that good_. Yeah, right.

"I'm assuming you would like to be taken to the floor where Mr. Parker is currently residing?"

The AI's robotic voice broke through Annabeth's thoughts. "Yes, thankyou."

The floor below Annabeth's feet lifted, and the button labeled 23 on the elevator wall lit up. Man, this place was fancy.

Soon the elevator doors slid opened with an emotionless "Enjoy your afternoon" from the AI. Annabeth nodded slightly and stepped out of the small space, into a brightly lit corridor with doors all the way down. The hallway opened into what seemed to be living room of sorts, and Annabeth headed in that direction. She had walked a mere 6 steps when a head of curly brown hair peeked around the corner of the living-room entryway. Annabeth smiled.

"Your the first one here!" Peter grinned, beckoning her into the wide room. Annabeth obeyed, and stepped through the entry.

Her jaw dropped in surprise. This room was like an entirely different building. Everything else in the tower Annabeth had already seen had been shining and organized, and very expensive looking. This room, however, looked a little bit like a furniture store.

2 couches stood on opposite sides of the room, one a pale red with large pillows of mismatched designs piled on top of it. The other was a dark well-worn leather, with a green blanket draped over that seemed to be placed in such a position as to be shielding something from view. Probably a stain.

In between the two couches stood various chairs and sofas: A lazy boy with the leg rest kicked out, a wooden chair that had been painted a bright green in an attempt to brighten it's look. A director's chair was placed by the pale red couch, it's back emblazoned with the word "Stank" in highlighter-yellow. Annabeth didn't know what that was about, but she had an idea.

A purple woolly rug sat on the otherwise same tiled floor as the rest of the building, only this floor was not near as clean or reflective. Sitting on the rug was a large but short white wooden coffee table, piled with popcorn and DVD's and Wii controllers.

"Sorry about the appearance," Annabeth heard Peter say from behind her. She hadn't realized she had ventured into the room and was now gawking at the seating arrangement, and she quickly shut her mouth. "Whenever you've got 10 different super-humans all with different decoration preferences, things tend to turn out a little messy."

"No, its-" Annabeth cleared her throat and turned to Peter. "Unique."

Peter laughed kind of nervously, and opened his mouth to reply when the AI once again spoke, making Annabeth jump.

"Your friend Ned is here, Mr. Parker. I have told him that you and Miss Chase are waiting on floor 23, but he seems intent on preceding to floor 27. What would you like me to do?"

Peter chuckled. "Ignore Ned and bring him here, or go ahead and let him go to floor 27. Whichever one you think would be funnier, Friday."

Oh. So that was her name.

"I am not sure either of those are very smart decisions, Mr. Parker."

"I didn't say they'd be smart, only funny, Friday. Do whatever you think is best. Also, stop calling me Mr. Parker. _Peter is fine_."

"As you wish, Peter."

Peter and Annabeth stood awkwardly for a couple of seconds, before Peter broke the moment and plopped down onto the lazy boy. "Make yourself at home," he exclaimed, gesturing dramatically around the room. Annabeth tentatively dropped onto the pale red couch and let her hands rest in her lap.

Soon they heard yelling from in the hall.

"I told you, Friday, this is the wrong floor! You must be malfunctioning!"

"If you make your way down the hall, Mr. Leeds, you will see that I am not malfunctioning at all, and you have been incorrect in your theory of Peter being on floor 27."

Soon Ned was stomping into the room.

"See Friday, I told- oh."

The AI made a sound that sounded almost something like a laugh, and Annabeth couldn't help but smile.

Ned Leeds was a marshmallow of a boy, kind and enthusiastic. She had personally witnessed one of Peter and Ned's fanboy sessions, and she knew that this kid was about as dangerous or intimidating as a teddy bear.

"Mr. Parker-" The AI stopped abruptly to Peter's cry of "ITS PETER!" and then continued as if nothing had happened. "Miss Michelle has arrived, and she will join you and your present company in approximately 46 seconds

Ned startled. He had barely taken 3 steps into the room. "Is she following me?"

"You might just be incredibly slow, my friend." Peter said sarcastically, patting Ned on the back and leading him to the leather couch with the blanket over it. Soon clacking heels were heard coming down the hallway, and an intimidating looking Michelle Jones stepped into the room, sketchbook in hand and a pencil sitting behind her ear. Her curly brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail on her back, and her brows were pulled taut in something between anger and concentration.

And she was staring right at Annabeth.

Annabeth had worried about this. She had only met MJ once, when she was going to meet Peter to work on the project. Annabeth was waiting at the entrance of Peter's apartment, where he had asked her to meet him by text earlier in the day.

They had gotten off the bus together; arm in arm. Peter had had a goofy smile on his face, one she saw Percy wear often. Boys could never keep their composure around girls.

Peter had seen Annabeth almost immediately, and had made a bee line towards her. Michelle, however, had faltered, and that was when Annabeth had known that Peter had neglected to to tell his girlfriend that he was doing a project with someone who just happened to also be a girl.

Michelle had quickly regained her composure and soon caught up with Peter, and she had looked Annabeth in the eyes and had glared daggers at her. The message was clear: _Back off._ Annabeth hadn't said anything, just looked back at the girl with less desires to kill, and had cringed on the inside every time Peter had cleared his throat loudly in an attempt to make MJ's gaze return to him. It had taken three loud, very painful sounding throat-clears.

_Ah. Jealousy._

Annabeth had danced from foot to foot awkwardly as Peter decided inconveniently that that was the perfect time to tell Michelle what Annabeth _was_ and _wasn't_ to him. At the end of the conversation, she hadn't relinquished her icy gaze and attitude toward Annabeth, but she had held out her hand rather forcefully for Annabeth to shake.

_It's Michelle. Nice to meet you._

She didn't look like it was very nice to meet her at all.

"Nice to see you again, MJ," Ned had disrupted the awkward silence in the room with an unconvincing relaxed greeting. MJ glanced toward Ned and offered a small smile, and then proceeded to sit beside Peter. Really close.

_Geez._

"Ok, did I not already explain this?" Peter all but laughed, glancing towards Michelle. "She has a boyfriend too, you know. And it's not me."

"So you can stop glaring at Annabeth now." Ned added, sounding relieved someone other than him had disrupted the weird moment.

MJ gazed around the room for a few seconds, before crossing one leg over the other and slumping into the couch. The pencil behind her ear tilted slightly, but she ignored it.

"I glare at everyone." She deadpanned, but her voice sounded just a tiny bit lighter than it had the last she'd talked in front of Annabeth. She sounded kind of reassured. Kind of.

"So let's get on with the party, then."

...

It took a little while, but everyone seemed to be having fun now. Not wanting to cut each other's throats out, at least.

But that really only applied to MJ.

They had watched Empire Strikes Back, one of Peter's and Ned's favorite movies. Peter didn't know if Michelle or Annabeth had liked it, though. The movie had started, Annabeth had pointed something out about architectural design, and MJ had (surprisingly) agreed with her.

It took about 0.2 seconds before the girls were sprawled on the carpet next to each other, pouring over MJ's sketchbook and Annabeth's laptop full of all of her building design ideas Peter hadn't noticed her carrying, talking about everything from dumb guys to slave labor (one of Michelle's favorite topics.) It wasn't even very long before Michelle told Annabeth she could call her MJ.

Pretty soon, Peter and Ned were yelling for the 2 of them to shut up and watch the movie, and so they had taken the bowl of popcorn and left the room to have their deep conversations in peace.

"Just us, then. Just like old times, bro."

Ned sighed, reaching into the replacement bowl of popcorn they had made earlier after the girl's had taken the first one.

"Yep."

"I hate when girl's get together like that, man. You know what I mean?" Ned turned to Peter.

"Yep."

"It freaks me out, dude. I always thought MJ was different. From the small amount of time I talked to Annabeth, I thought she was different to. And smart. To bad she's taken."

Peter snorted at this. He had been ignoring Ned's rant, instead focusing on the movie he knew by heart, but this was just hilarious. Annabeth and Ned? As if.

Besides, Peter hadn't told anyone about Annabeth being a demi-god, and he knew Ned's little crush that had burned out very quickly would flair up again if he knew about her kick-butt abilities.

"What? You don't think she'd take me?"

At this, Peter just shook his head, and turned the volume on the movie up.

"That's cold, bro. Really cold." Ned pretended to be offended, but he was smiling. He redirected his attention to the screen and plopped some more popcorn into his mouth.

Peter couldn't believe Tony's advice had worked. He felt blissfully happy, relaxed. He hadn't forgotten about the bombing (he didn't think he'd ever forget, despite his goals), but he was able to put it aside for a moment. He was at the avenger's tower, eating popcorn and fanboying with his best friend, and his girlfriend and other friend that was also a girl were suddenly inseparable. No awkwardness.

It was pretty great.

"Why is it so dark in here?"

Peter jumped at the new voice. _How the heck did you not hear it coming?_

_My Spider-sense is on crack, apparently._

Peter flew off the couch as Ned yelped and slid off of it. The lights flickered on and the movie paused, so FRIDAY must've been paying attention.

A floating red man stood at the entrance of the room. Peter relaxed when he realized who it was. His power had never worked on Vision, for some reason. Maybe it was because he was part robot? Or that he could walk straight through things? Either way, it made Peter feel better to know that his spidey-sense was still working.

He felt even more reassured when he was alerted of Wanda journeying up the elevator 6 floors down.

"You two are not making out, are you?" Vision teased, though his usual robotic voice ruined the playful mood. Peter glanced down at Ned on the floor, who looked somewhere between laughing and crying.

"It was really fun, too." Peter replied sarcastically. Vision just looked confused.

"Sarcasm, Vis. I've been coaching you on it, remember?"

"Oh. Yes, I remember." Vision muttered, embarrassed.

"I thought you were having a party. That only looks like one friend to me." Wanda had just entered the room and stood beside Vision, and was now smirking at the crumpled pile of person covered in popcorn that was Ned. He was staring up at the superheroes now, his gaze somewhere between excitement and embarrassment and horror. It wasn't a good look for him.

"So where are the rest of your buds, Peter?" Wanda had turned back to him, still on the verge of laughing at how Vision had frightened them. Actually, now that he thought about it, the fact that Wanda came in almost a minute after Vision meant that they had remembered how Peter couldn't sense the super-bot and had planned the whole thing. Friday might've been in on it too, considering she didn't tell him Vision was there.

How rude.

"Ned isn't the only person here, Wanda." Peter rolled his eyes and retook his seat on the couch, brushing popcorn off of his jeans. "Michelle and Annabeth are upstairs, and I invited Shuri, but she was busy. And she lives in Wakanda, so the short-notice was kind of a problem."

"So three out of four friends? Kind of sad, Parker."

Peter just glared, and Wanda laughed.

"Thomas Fuller once said that if you have one true friend you have more than your share." Vision said matter-of-factly, and Peter smirked at Wanda.

"See? Your guy knows, Maximoff. You should listen to him sometimes."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "He just got it off of google."

"Google knows." Ned deadpanned, who had finally overcome his surprise and had decided to join the argument.

"What is going on down there?" Peter heard Annabeth yell from down the hallway. Soon both of the girls were standing in the living room. Both Michelle and Annabeth were good at hiding their emotions (MJ just always looked indifferent and Annabeth seemed to have been born with the talent), but Peter could tell both of the girls were surprised to see the super-couple leaning against the pale red couch.

"So, is this like a-" Vision spoke up in the girl's awed silence, his usual emotionless voice taking on a hint of snarkiness,"double date? Is that what you call it? Because if so, you don't seem to be doing it correctly." Vision gestured at the 2 boys sitting on the couch and the hallway the girl's had just come from. "You are supposed to be together."

"Um, no, its not." Annabeth deadpanned, having overcome her surprise. MJ nodded in assent, glancing at Ned with a smirk on her face. _As if._

_Great minds think alike._

"What are you two doing here, anyway? I booked this floor for four hours. It's off limits." Peter got up to push Vision and Wanda out through the door which they came, but Vision, being the annoying super strong robot he was, didn't move or sway at all when Peter placed his hands on his shoulder's and pushed with all his might. Wanda just smirked at his struggling, and Annabeth and Michelle followed suit.

"Ugh. Curse Tony and his robots!" Peter relented and sat back onto the couch, glaring at the couple.

"We thought we'd join the party, spider-ling. Do you object?" Wanda's eyebrows shot up towards the girls, asking for their answer rather than Peter's.

"Does me not trying to push you out the door seem like an objection to you? Go away."

Peter wished for a normal life all the time. He loved being spider-man, sure, but he'd give up his power any day if it meant he could live care-free, and not in constant danger. Bombers wouldn't be wanting to blow up the apartment he lived in because of what he'd done. Aunt May would still be alive, and maybe even Uncle Ben too.

And hanging out with friends from school and watching a movie was a rare thing, because it was just so _normal_. And, yeah, they were hanging out in the Avenger's Tower, but Peter could look over that small detail. He couldn't look over the fact that Vision and The Scarlet Witch were standing in the same room as him and talking to him like annoying, bossy older siblings. That _wasn't_ normal.

Its not that he didn't like the presence of the superheroes- it was just the wrong time.

And Peter was still kind of mad (mad that he didn't think of it before) about the prank.

The couple were probably just trying to act normal around him, anyway, have some fun. Make him feel better. He didn't _really_ mind.

"Its cool with us." MJ replied, disinterested, and Annabeth shrugged.

"I think it'd be awesome" Ned added, dreamy eyed.

"Thanks for the support man." Peter sighed. "Stay. Whatever."

Wanda threw her hands up in the air in victory as the girls made their way to the leather couch Vision was leaning against. Ned looked very pleased that the superheroes were joining the party. Peter knew it wasn't what he'd planned, but he was good. Get-togethers with avengers were interesting. Wanda closest to his age (other than Shuri) and she could totally plan a great party. Vision was- Vision.

But Peter was a super-hero. And being with other super-heroes reminded him of what he was. Being reminded of what he was reminded him of the bombing. The bombing made him upset.

He didn't want to get upset in front of his friends.

Nevertheless, he knew Wanda and Vision were just trying to be nice and would accept their gesture, however futile it may be.

"Just so we're clear, though, if Thor decides to join the party too, I am not paying for his pop-tarts."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next part of Awkward Parties will come out ASAP. Thanks for reading, and kudos or comments if you are willing, because they are literally about 99% of what keeps me alive. 
> 
> P.S., for any of y'all who have Disney+, WandaVision is out!!!!!! I kind of gave them this special appearance in honor of it.  
> Fangirl with me If you will... Please  
> NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT A PERCY JACKSON TV SHOW IS SUPPOSED TO BE COMING OUT SOON!!!!   
> Who all is screaming right now...


	6. Awkward Parties (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, so sorry for the long chapter weight. I honestly have no excuses for my absence, other than life happens.  
> Anyway, I realized that the last chapter was drastically longer than the ones before it. Well, I'm not just thumb-typing this fic on my phone screen anymore, I've got a laptop with fancy keys and everything (yay!) So you can now expect chapters to be a bit longer.  
> I'm not very proud of this chapter, but it is what it is. Thankyou so much for y'all's patience and time.
> 
> Also, I've decided to change the time. Thought this piece was going to be based after Tony's snap, but now I'm just gonna say it's taking place right after Infinity War. I'm pretending Thanos died before he snapped his fingers. I've gone back and changed it so as to prevent confusion.

"So he is going all the way to California just to ask your dad for a favor?"

MJ and Annabeth had been talking for a while after abandoning the boys in the common room, mostly about their favorite projects and their aspiring relationships. Annabeth had been telling Michelle about Percy's "surprise" trip, leaving out anything about demi-gods. She didn't think Peter had told his girlfriend about her life, and Annabeth wasn't sure if she wanted the girl sitting next to her to know.

"That's what he told me."

"Does Percy have a dad living here locally?" MJ asked, scribbling in her sketchbook absentmindedly.

"Yeah. His stepdad lives in Manhattan."

Michelle glanced up at Annabeth, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. "And you said he asked his brother to make him something before he left?"

"Uh, yeah. I don't know how that relates, though." Annabeth didn't know where MJ was going with this.

"What does Percy's brother do?" MJ had set her pencil down now and was staring at the bed spread they were sitting on in deep concentration. They had chosen a random empty guest room down the hallway from where the boys were, with had a humongous bed that they could both easily lounge on.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, does he have a job? What does he make?"

"Well, he welds. Its kind of a talent, though, not really a job." Annabeth still didn't know why Michelle thought this was important.

"How long have you and Percy known each other?" MJ questioned, running her fingers along a design on the bed cover.

"Almost 6 years." 

MJ nodded, brows furrowed. "I have a theory."

"What?" There was no way Michelle knew what Percy's "surprise" was. 

"What if Percy went to San Francisco to ask your dad for his blessing?"

It took a minute for Annabeth to realize what MJ was saying. And when she did comprehend it, it still didn't make any sense. 

"You think he's going to propose to me?" Annabeth asked incredulously, her gaze shooting up towards Michelle for explanation.

"Well, think about it. Any favor he needed your dad to do, he could probably just ask his stepdad or do it himself. Plus, you two have known each other for a long time."

Annabeth pondered this. They had known each other for a while. She was already sure Percy would propose to her at some point in the future, but she hadn't expected it so soon. 

"I mean, I could be wrong. But then you also said Percy had had his brother make something for him- maybe a ring? I don't know, it's really far-fetched." Michelle looked like maybe she doubted her theory, but Annabeth saw the logic in it.

Percy and her dad weren't on close terms. Asking for his blessing might've been one of the only reasons Percy would go to California, considering the amount of monsters and danger there. Plus, Tyson was great at welding. He'd once made Percy a watch that turned into a shield, for crying out loud. And Tyson's craft would mean so much more than a store-bought diamond. Not to mention the fact that Annabeth turned 18 in three weeks...

Gods of olympus, he is going to propose.

"You think it might be a possibility, too?" Michelle had seen the dawning on Annabeth's face.

"I can't believe I didn't think of it before."

As a demi-god, your chances of spontaneously dying tomorrow were higher than a normal person. That was why they started college a year earlier, and maybe why Percy would marry her earlier, too. It was just like something he would do. 

And she wanted to, of course she did. If he asked her, she would say yes.

She couldn't believe she hadn't put two and two together.

And now Annabeth found herself hoping Percy would propose. Hoping MJ was right. This was something Annabeth hadn't realized she'd wanted until this moment.

She found herself grinning dreamily up at Michelle, who was grinning awkwardly back. 

"Why is it so dark in here?"

...

Turns out, Thor did show up to the party a mere half-hour after Wanda and Vision. Then Clint and Natasha, Sam and Rhodey, Steve and Bucky, Scott and Hope, Bruce, Pepper and Tony, and an excited looking Morgan. Rocket and Groot even made an appearance, though the enhanced raccoon claimed that other than Thor, him and The Tree, the rest of the guardians had opted to explore New York while they were on earth. They're a bunch of losers, he had exclaimed incredulously.

It was totally planned. 17 people, the majority with busy schedules, 3 that spent most of their time in space, didn't just show up on the very floor Peter was having a get-together on in the same hour. They didn't bring pizza and sodas to feed an army and various video games to satisfy an entire geek convention, either.

Peter just didn't know why. This had obviously been Tony's doing, what with him encouraging Peter to invite his friends over and such, but did Mr. Stark think this would make him feel better? Surely he knew that Peter liked to keep his co-workers/super family separated from his social life. 

Peter wasn't mad everyone was there; he was always happy to see the avengers. Especially all in one place, having fun. Together. That was a rare sight.

It was just a lot. Very soon. His friends had not been warned of the unexpected crowd, and who knew if they even wanted to be there. But more than that, Peter didn't know if he wanted to have fun. He didn't deserve to. He felt so guilty. 

How could you be attending a super awesome party with the literal Avengers only a week after you basically burned down a building full of people?

Ok, so Tony had told Peter repeatedly not to blame himself for the incident, they were now calling it, but Mr. Stark just didn't understand. The bombers had meant to kill him. If Peter didn't exist, none of this would've ever happened.

Ok, maybe it wasn't exactly his fault he existed. But he was Spider-Man. He made that choice. And he wasn't careful. Nothing could take the guilt off of his shoulders and put it somewhere else. The burden was 100% his to carry, and no one could change his mind about that fact.

Plus, he still felt like acting stubborn and choosing to be upset after Vision and Wanda's little prank. He could've done better.

Peter forced himself to tune his mind into his surroundings and bury his thoughts. Someone had hooked up a Wii, (seriously, you've got a billion dollars and yet your video-game system is still a Wii?) And Clint, Vision, and Thor were sitting around the common room deep in a heated racing game. Peter wasn't sure what the game was called, but hearing Thor yelling cuss words at the various computer players and Steve shouting "language" from across the room was hilarious. Clint was trying to throw pillows at Vision's head in an attempt to make him lose his super-bot focus, but his efforts were futile. He ended up falling and hitting his head on the coffee table after trying to throw a couch cushion at Vision's face while still driving his electronic car. The man merely bounced up from his crumpled position on the carpet and started cussing at Vision, scrambling to get his car back into the race. Peter expected Steve to yell "language" again from across the room, but he was to busy laughing at Clint to care.

The rest of the Avenger's were gathered in groups around the room. Peter spotted Ned shoving a pencil and paper into Rocket's hands for an autograph. Rocket began scolding his friend for being such an a-hole. You can't show paper to a tree, you idiot! Ned was trying to escape Rocket's fury, but the crowd around him was thick and he was having difficulty finding a place to go. Peter thought he should help Ned, but the situation was really funny. Plus, Peter didn't want to be yelled at by a raccoon. 

Nearby, Annabeth and Natasha seemed to be having a debate about the best fighting techniques. Annabeth had made up some kind of lie about being a part of a karate or jiu-jitzu group or something. Peter knew how important it felt to keep your super-identity secret, and he didn't blame the girl for lying. Morgan was trying to get involved in the conversation, saying something about how she wanted pepper spray for Christmas. Neither of the older girls seemed surprised that the 5 year old knew what pepper spray was.

Peter's spider-sense processed all of this in a matter of a few minutes. He didn't understand how everyone had gotten into the groove so quickly. The last guest couldn't have gotten to the tower more than 20 minutes ago. Peter had been standing still in a corner of the room since the number of super-heroes had gone over 6, and he was yet to talk to anyone, or to be approached, surprisingly. He knew this party was for him. The star-wars theme-music booming from an unknown speaker was enough to tell him that. He was still stuck in his little shadow, though, torn between joining the fun and laughter emitting from the common room or retreating to a quiet place and pouring over his lack of a will to live.

The latter didn't sound very fun when he spelled it out.

"Did you know about this?"

Peter jumped at the voice. He was so jumpy lately. Standing next to him in the shadows was Michelle, looking concerned and suspicious and just a little bit scared.

He hadn't felt her when she approached him.

Maybe she had been there the whole time.

"Does it look like I knew about this?" Peter replied, overcoming his surprise and turning towards her.

MJ stared at him for a minute, perhaps to see if he was telling the truth. Her eyes bored into his soul. It wasn't at all surprising that she had figured out his second identity so quickly. Finally, MJ relinquished her mistrust and slumped into the wall.

"Stark doesn't really have much experience in helping a mentally unstable 16 year old teenager, does he?" MJ's eyes searched for the man. He was stuffing his face with pizza near the serve-yourself counter Steve was still laughing against, whispering something to Pepper that Peter didn't quite catch.

"Mentally unstable?" Peter wasn't hurt by this, but his voice pretended to be. Michelle knew him too well.

"You and I both know it, loser." MJ teased, acting as if the whole thing was a joke. Maybe she thought part of it was. 

Peter did know it, though. 

"Ned and Annabeth seem to be having fun. She's never even met these people before." MJ looked at Peter, smiling slightly. 

"You've never met these people, either," Peter pointed out, a question in his eyes.

"You think I have something to prove?"

"I most certainly do."

Michelle laughed at this, and Peter smiled. He loved it when MJ laughed. 

"Well then," she started, her voice heavy with snark, "I suppose we better go join the party." Michelle grasped Peter's hand firmly, support and encouragement in the movement. Peter tried his best to give it back to her. To tell himself it was just a party. His guilty, anxious feelings weren't necessary. 

He clung to the thought.

Michelle led him out of the shadows, and he forced a grin onto his face. He could be happy. He could enjoy this. Even if he didn't deserve it, everyone else in the room did.

Tony's words echoed in his mind: Its not your fault.

If only he could believe it.

...

Annabeth was used to crazy parties. Being friends with Leo and Percy alone made this a usual for her. Greek demi-gods weren't the organized, solemn strict-curfew type. Not like the Romans. 

And when the raccoon showed up, she knew this wasn't a formal get-together designed to make young people bored. Those didn't have video games, pizza, and star-wars music. Or raccoons.

She was in utter shock, at first. Surely Peter hadn't planned this. He didn't seem overly excited when Wanda and Vision showed up, after all. 

She couldn't even find Peter, now. He had disappeared. So had Michelle. Annabeth wondered if she was intimidated by the large crowd of super-heroes in the room.

Annabeth couldn't really be intimidated, though. She had had prodigy abilities her entire life. She fought many battles. Had many near-death experiences. Camp Half-Blood was basically a summer camp full of teenager avengers. 

She had always known about the clan of super-heroes. Never met them in person, no, but plenty of times on her dad's TV and on the news in a coffee shop or pizza parlor with Percy. She had always acknowledged the superheroes presence, but never did she look to them for hope or depend on them to help her in times of trouble. Mortals couldn't see the monsters she had to fight to the death with. It was best if you just kept them out of the equation. 

She fought for the well-being of demi-gods. The Avenger's fought for everyone else.

Natasha Romanov was a spy; a very strong woman who was probably in her late 30's. She was alert of everything, always scanning her surroundings like Michelle. Unlike her seemingly always-calculating eyes, though, her posture suggested she was easy-going. Flirtatious, even. She masked her knowledge behind a pretty face.

She reminded Annabeth of Piper. Maybe even herself.

And then Annabeth figured out she was Black Widow. She didn't rely on powers or weapons or metal suits to protect herself. She didn't have to own up to any men, because she was better than all of them.

It didn't take very long for the two girls to become friends. 

During the time it took for Peter to make an appearance at his own surprise party, Annabeth had had a strong debate with Natasha over the best fighting techniques for self-protection. Turns out, they agreed on a lot of things. Natasha obviously didn't believe Annabeth's karate shin-dig, but she didn't press on the matter, and the daughter of Athena wasn't about to give her big secret to someone she'd just met. 

And then she had been challenged to a wrestling match against Black Widow.

Annabeth didn't even know how it had happened. They had been saying something about the chances of survival after a bullet to the stomach in contrast to a knife, and Natasha had said it.

Hey, we've got an awesome training room...

Annabeth was stunned. This woman wanted to wrestle with her? The spy was onto something Annabeth didn't understand. She wasn't about to back down from a challenge, though. 

And she wanted to see if the Avenger's training room was as hard-core as the Half-blood camp grounds.

She was still clinging to the idea that demi-gods were just teenage avengers, but better. She wanted to prove it.

"You haven't touched the pizza."

Annabeth jolted and glanced up. Peter sat down beside her on the couch, his eyes directed towards the to-the-death pillow fight that was now happening on the living room carpet. Clint, Vision and Thor were sprawled on the floor, and pillows were strewn everywhere. More than had been in the place when she had first arrived. The men had probably gathered some from nearby guest-rooms.

The only couch cushions that still remained on the couch was the one Annabeth and Peter were sitting on. 

"Are you vegan?"

Annabeth smirked at the boy next to her. "We ate Starbucks, like, 9 days ago. I had a muffin and it was way too good to not contain eggs."

Peter went silent at her answer, and Annabeth instantly felt guilty. She tried to keep that day from reaching her lips for Peter's sake. He had lost so much.

"I'm sorry-"

"No. No, it's okay." Peter looked up at her, determination on his face. He sounded like he was convincing himself rather than Annabeth. "It's okay." 

Annabeth looked back over at the raging pillow fight happening mere feet away from the couch. Clint had a red mark around his left eye where he had been hit with a wii remote. Despite the injury, he was laughing.

Tony Stark was an idiot. This was too much too soon. Peter was in pain, overwhelmed by irreplaceable loss. All these people he looked up to were here, and Peter was going to try and bury his feelings for them. It wasn't going to fix things. They had to offer him support, and let him mourn on his own. Get better on his own. If you hide your feelings for the comfort of others, it'll pile up and come back later. 

Annabeth knew. 

"You don't have to do that." Annabeth looked over at the prodigy next to her, searching in his eyes for his true emotions.

"Do what?" Peter avoided her gaze, focusing on the men rolling around on the floor.

"Pretend." 

Peter remained silent. Peter was never silent. 

Annabeth let her gaze remain on him. He didn't look up. 

"Peter."

It was a dream. Music blasted from an unknown place, but it was dulled to her ears. Time slowed. The room blurred around her, and all that was left in the world were the two of them. Finally the boy next to her looked up, and his chocolate eyes bored into her grey ones.

There was familiarity there, like what he was about to say he had said before. Like the loss he was feeling now he had felt before.

"Then what should I do?" His words challenged, but his tone was dead. Annabeth blinked, thinking.

What did you do? What had she used as a coping mechanism? What had Peter done, before?

"You embrace it, and accept the fact that you'll never forget." She turned away, considering how to form the words to say next.

"And?" Peter's nails dug into the couch, and he didn't even try to hide the sadness from him voice. The guilt.

Annabeth took a breath and turned back to Spider-man. He'd lost someone before, she was sure. Something was different this time.

Guilt.

"You let it fuel you." She finished. The air between them was thickening with emotion. After an eternity, he nodded, but didn't let his gaze fall from her's.

Something had passed between them. Not just friendship. They had connected somehow. 

Somewhere deep inside her, Annabeth felt that they had already connected before.

"Are you ready?"

Annabeth jumped off the couch and turned around. Natasha was standing there, excitement and challenge on her face. Had she noticed Peter and Annabeth's conversation? Or had she, like the rest of the world, gone untouched by the two teenagers moment of connection?

"I've got the training room set up."

Annabeth looked over at Peter, who eyed her quizzically. Her lips quirked up. 

"I'm having a wrestling match with Black Widow, apparently." Peter's eyebrows shot upward, and he looked over at the spy behind him.

"What makes you think she can wrestle?" Peter questioned Natasha, skeptical. Annabeth shot back, offended. 

"She's strong. She claims she knows at least 100 ways to kill a guy." Natasha looked between the two teens, her eyes gleaming. "I don't know where or how she learned what she supposedly knows," Peter glanced over Annabeth, concern hidden behind a smirk, "And I do intend to find out." Romanov added. We'll see. "But if she can fight, I need to be sure she can't beat me."

"Who's fighting who? I need to place bets!" Clint had walked into the conversation, followed closely by Thor. Vision had gone to talk to a nearby Wanda and Sam Wilson. 

The archer had a small swelling bump under his eye, but either he didn't notice it or he completely ignored it. He was sporting a victorious smile, although the mere mortal-man hadn't beat the super-bot or the god of lightning. The Wii-race-pillow-fight had gotten way out of hand.

While Natasha explained the situation to her co-worker, Annabeth once again directed her attention to Peter Parker. He was smiling awkwardly, looking somewhere between confused and excited. Annabeth thought about their earlier confiding. Peter was affected deeply by his loss. But more than that, he thought it was his fault. 

He would heal. Just as he had picked himself up after whatever had happened to him before. 

None of this gave doubt to Annabeth. None of it confused her. What confused her was their relationship. 

She had never met Peter Parker before the beginning of the summer, and yet she had the strangest feeling she'd known him before.

...

Peter was scared.

He hadn't been paying attention. How on earth had Natasha decided she wanted to wrestle with a random girl she'd only heard 2 or 3 sentences about and had only known for about an hour? 

Better yet, how did the spy know Annabeth could fight?

How long would it take her to figure out Annabeth wasn't normal?

Why would Annabeth even accept the challenge?

That's a stupid question.

Peter was surrounded by super-heroes, some shaking their heads in confusion, others placing bets between the spy they'd worked with for years and the girl they'd only just met. 

Clint had bet on the latter.

Through all the emotion, Peter couldn't help but feel confused. Rushed, kind of. One minute he'd been talking to MJ and the next sitting on a sofa with Annabeth- something weird had happened then- and now he was outside of the training room, waiting for Black Widow's say to enter and watch what was about to be either really interesting or horrifying. 

Nothing about this day made any sense.

...

The air was silent around her. Avengers were seated on benches around the training room. The floor was cleared of all weapons, weights, anything either of the girls could trip over or kill each other with. Ned, MJ, and Peter sat together, the first two looking slightly confused, the third wearing a knowing grim expression.

Annabeth breathed deeply and turned to her opponent. This was a friendly fight. She wasn't in danger. She had agreed to this. She wanted this. For fun.

Among other things.

Natasha had a look of determination on her face, though she was smiling. She would be tough to beat.

Annabeth hadn't been to Camp Half-Blood for almost 6 months. She'd been focused on college, and dragging Percy through the first semester.

She needed this.

"Are you two ready?" 

Clint Barton had a small American flag in his hand that he had taken from Steve's room. He held it high above his head, prepared to wave it frantically at the start of the competition like it was a race or something. This wasn't professional, instead it was merely for fun and spontaneous.

Annabeth had to remind herself a she nodded to the man that she couldn't do anything that might make her look suspicious and lead to her identity. Even though she'd already basically done exactly that by talking to the Black Widow about fighting techniques and accepting the battle request.

"No biting, decapitation, material weapons of any kind, hair-pulling, display of any hidden super-powers we didn't previously know about-" He paused and looked to each girl as if they would suddenly burst into flames. "And no killing. Have I missed anything?" The archer glanced around the room at his co-workers.

"No cussing." Steve stated with an air of finality. Tony snickered beside him.

"Ok, that'll be encouraged." Clint smirked, and shook his finger at Tony. "Say one naughty word and I'll wash your mouth out with soap." Tony laughed harder, and Steve glared.

"Shake hands." Hawkeye ordered. Annabeth crossed the few feet separating her from Natasha and grasped her hand firmly. "Now, resume your beginning positions-" Clint waited as they walked back to where they had previously been. "Ready- begin!"

Barton swiped his flag downward and moved out of the way as Natasha advanced towards Annabeth. The daughter of Athena didn't even have time to process what was happening before she was knocked unceremoniously onto the ground. 

Natasha had her pinned down. The seconds were ticking by. Soon the game would already be lost.

Annabeth breathed deeply and tightened the muscles in her legs. She jerked her knees up into Romanov's stomach with as much force as she could muster. The spy flew backwards, surprised, and Annabeth took no time getting onto her feet and out of her vulnerable position. 

She ran at Natasha in an attempt to knock her over. But the professional side-stepped. Annabeth had expected it, and swerved on the spot. She threw her leg to the side, into Natasha's knees. The woman fell onto the ground, barely catching herself with her elbows and springing back up. She wasn't going to go down easy, that was for sure. This woman fought for a living.

That was kind of what Annabeth had done for over 10 years of her life, though.

The opponents stood for a moment, catching their breath. The crowd was engaged now, silent.

Black Widow ran at Annabeth again, but she was ready this time. She threw herself onto the ground just as her challenger reached her and wrapped her arms around Natasha's legs. The women's earlier momentum was her downfall, quite literally. She crashed into the ground once again.

Annabeth scrambled to get on top of the spy, but her attempt was futile. The woman was already on her feet again. She wrapped her arms around the daughter of Athena's stomach and slammed her into the ground. Annabeth rolled on the floor, gasping for breath. 

This wasn't wrestling. But whatever it was, Annabeth wanted to win.

Annabeth bounced off the concrete floor, only to be knocked down again by Natasha. Instead of trying to get her off this time, Annabeth tried a different tactic. As she once again felt the cold floor on her back, she yanked her arms free from her sides and grasped her opponents shoulders firmly. She used the women's weight and pushed sideways with all her might. The two rolled, and soon Annabeth was on top of her competitor. She pressed all of her weight and muscle onto the spy, and jammed her elbows into Natasha's sides. It was a difficult maneuver, one she had learned from Luke a long time ago. 

And suddenly she was flying across the room. Annabeth had gotten distracted. She had been 7 again, running through the streets with Thalia and Luke with a blade in hand, and Natasha had taken advantage of it. 

Her head hit the hard ground, and it sent shock down her body. Someone gasped.

Annabeth ignored the pain and once again jumped to her feet. She couldn't let her head wonder.

Natasha was standing and hadn't moved towards her victim. She was probably worried she had hurt Annabeth severely. After all, this wasn't supposed to be to-the-death. 

Annabeth took advantage of Black Widow's hesitation and prepared to perform one of her favorite techniques. She ran at her opponent as fast as she could, full of momentum. She grabbed the women's wrist, and put all of her force and adrenaline into the grasp. Within tenths of a second, Natasha had been thrown over the daughter of Athena's shoulder and was slammed into the hard floor under her. 

Annabeth could swear Scott had screamed. She would've laughed if she wasn't so out of breath.

Annabeth threw herself down onto Natasha's body, pinning her arms to the ground. The woman stared up at her in awe.

"Surrender?" Annabeth breathed, already anticipating the answer. Natasha laughed, though it sounded more like a cough. "As if."

The spy yanked her left leg free of the trap, and swung her foot into Annabeth's knee. The move looked wimpy, a frail attempt; however, it was anything but. Annabeth cried out in pain as Black Widow's foot connected with her leg. It was a deceitful move, but it was a powerful one.

She hoped the professional would teach it to her later. She took a tenth of a second to assess her surroundings as she scrambled away from her challenger. Most of the occupants of the room were standing now, watching every move. Some looked concerned, others surprised. Rocket looked delighted.

Annabeth redirected her attention to Natasha, who was preparing her next move for when her victim got on her feet again. Annabeth sprang up quickly, and jumped onto the spy, wrapping her legs around the woman's waist. The momentum caused them both to fall onto the ground. Natasha groaned and pushed her opponent off her. 

Soon they were both rolling on the floor, trying to stay atop of one another. The fight had been going on for several minutes, and both of the girls were beginning to show fatigue. The watchers were shouting now- some of encouragement, others of anger towards one another over money and predictions. Annabeth tuned it all out as she rolled over the cold floor, focusing on her competitor.

As Annabeth once again rolled on top of Natasha, she pulled her knees upward and into the woman's ribs with as much force as she could attain. It backfired; Black Widow used Annabeth's loss of footing to her advantage and flipped on top of the daughter of Athena, putting her hands around her neck and pulling her into a choke-hold.

Annabeth hadn't anticipated the counter-move. She was stuck now; Natasha was on top of her with her victim's head in her elbow, and Annabeth was hopelessly pressed to the ground. She heard Clint begin counting the seconds on the ground a ways from her. 

She tightened her muscles and pushed up onto her knees with all of the strength she could muster. The spy's grip on her neck held firm, but now Annabeth had gained some control. Clint's counting ceased as Natasha tried to push Annabeth's body back onto the floor. Annabeth jabbed her elbow into the woman's stomach as she held her, 3 times before Natasha loosened her grip slightly on her opponent's neck. She grabbed Annabeth's jerking elbow with her free hand and wrenched it behind her victims back, still holding her in a choke-hold.

The situation had become hopeless. With one of Annabeth's arms in captivity and her way of oxygen slowly diminishing, there wasn't much left she could do in this situation.

She couldn't let Black Widow win, though. She could get out of this, just as she had gotten out of everything before.

She breathed as deeply as possible, and felt around her for signs of weakness. She could use anything to her advantage.

Then Annabeth looked around at all the people watching her in the room. Super-heroes. The majority were awe-stricken with the teenager's performance. She had out-lasted her opponent's wrath for a surprising amount of time. 

This woman was a professional. If Annabeth beat her, things would look suspicious. Natasha definitely didn't believe the whole karate-story. If a supposedly normal teenage girl beat the Black Widow, she'd be questioned and her background would be looked into a lot more than what she was comfortable with. 

Annabeth continued to struggle against her captor, but this time she wasn't planning on fighting with purpose. Natasha's choke-hold grew tighter, her grasp relentless. She still hadn't gotten Annabeth all the way to the floor for Clint to begin counting again. 

Annabeth fought against her human restraint, and the choke-hold got even tighter. She gasped for breath, and slapped the woman's arm with her free hand. Surrender.

Natasha relinquished her hold on Annabeth and stood from the ground, wearing a victorious smile. Annabeth climbed to her feet as well. She felt as if she'd betrayed herself by giving up, but it was a wise choice. Even after their co-worker's win, various avengers were still eyeing the teenager with awe and suspicion.

"You sure you are not also a superhero?" Annabeth turned. Tony Stark had approached her, looking confused and suspicious, yet smiling, like most of the crowd. "Did you get bit by the same spider Peter did, and develop super-strength?" 

Annabeth shook her head and shuddered. She hated spiders.

Its kind of ironic that you became friends with the human equivalent of a spider, then.

"We've all got somewhat-secret identities here, you know- If you hang out with these people, your's won't stay secret for long." Stark made it sound like a joke, but to Annabeth, it sounded more like a warning. She didn't know how fast news would spread if one of the avengers found out she was a demi-god (other than Peter) or what would happen to camp Half-Blood, but she didn't want to take the chance. 

Even if Thor was technically a Norse demi-god. Or something.

"Do you fight a lot?"

"Um. Well, I'm a counselor at a summer camp and we sometimes do self-protection-" Tony wasn't buying it, but she didn't give him any more information.

"You probably want to know where the showers are." Annabeth turned around. Natasha was standing there, smiling brightly. "Its not healthy to let this sweat sit on your body for too long." The spy gestured down her training outfit, and then towards the one Annabeth had borrowed. 

"You'll probably want to wait until all these people leave, though." Annabeth looked around. The room was crowded and noisy. Tony Stark had wondered off to join Pepper. 

Annabeth nodded her consent, and the woman ran toward the crowd.

"Ok people, get out! There's a whole billion dollar tower here- find somewhere else to take up space!" A few of the occupants of the room grumbled, but slowly the crowd of super-heroes were making there way out of the double doors and into the hallway elevator.

Annabeth hoped they weren't all stupid enough to all get in the small space at once.

...

Peter stood near the back of the elevator accompanied by Clint Barton, MJ, Sam Wilson, Scott and Hope. They were the second group to board the elevator back down to the 23rd floor. 

"That friend you have, Peter- she sure can fight."

Scott had the same awe in his voice most of the other avengers had- no one expected a seemingly-normal (other than being a 17 year old who already graduated college) teenage girl to with-stand and nearly beat the Black Widow for 20 straight minutes. 

And she would've won. But she'd given up.

For a minute, he thought she'd keep fighting. She wasn't one to back down from a challenge. It was a smart decision, though- just fighting the way that she had looked suspicious. And Annabeth had certainly to proved to every one that she wasn't someone to mess with.

"Yeah." 

"Did you know she could fight like that?"

"No."

It wasn't a lie. He hadn't known she was anything other than a really smart aspiring-architect, until she'd laid out her entire life for him. 

Annabeth trusted him. She didn't have to give Peter the entire background. But she wanted him to know.

He smiled up at Scott Lang, who just raised his eyebrows in return. He didn't understand. 

But Peter knew more about Annabeth than he did of any of the people in the elevator with him. And she knew his deepest secret. 

"What's up, Parker? Had a fun afternoon?" Scott still had his eyebrows raised. Peter bit his lip, but continued to grin. This realization had erased his mind of every horrible thing from the past week.

The connection they had. He still didn't understand it, but it was strong, whatever it was.

He felt relieved to have it.

...

The hot water hit Annabeth's shoulders in hard drops. The pressure felt good on her tired body, waking her up and making her feel clean and alert. 

The fight had brought her back to life, after the months of focusing on school work alone. Her heart beat quickly in her chest, but she was smiling. She hadn't realized she needed that.

And it had taken everyone's minds off of the traumatic week- even Peter's she was sure. She tilted her head up towards the shower head and closed her eyes as the heated water rained down of her face. She couldn't understand how content she felt.

She barely knew these people. This went against everything she stood for- she was in a shower, vulnerable, with a dozen basically strangers just a mere few floors down.

She'd been in the small space of relaxation long enough- it was time to put some clothes on.

Annabeth quickly dried off with a provided towel, and slipped her jeans and t-shirt she had had on before she had wrestled with Natasha. 

She grabbed her phone from a nearby bench and checked her notifications. 

3 new messages from Percy

Annabeth had completely, utterly forgotten about Percy and the cross-country trip. How long had it been now? Rolla to San Francisco was around 29 hours. A long drive without stopping, but Percy had insisted on not wasting any time to rest. 

Annabeth clicked into her messages, sighing. 

I made it to your dad's. Going to bed now.

Hey, did you know you still have a VHS in your house? Wow.

Sup, are you alive? You said you'd answer unless you were dead.

That was what happened when you were a demi-god. You didn't check your phone for an hour, and everyone thought you were dead.

Annabeth felt like she was being redundant as she typed out her belated reply.

I'm not dead. You?

The text came back almost instantly, as if Percy had been staring at his screen awaiting her answer.

This was just yesterday morning on repeat.

I will be, if you keep ignoring me. Why did u not answer?

Annabeth thought about telling Percy about the party and the fight, but then she'd have to tell him about Peter and the Avengers, and then she'd have to tell him about how Peter knew about her being a demi-god, and than she'd have to deal with stuff she didn't want to deal with momentarily.

She would give him the news later, when Percy wasn't already on edge and had only had 6 hours of sleep in the last 59 hours. Nope, she'd tell him later.

I was reading. I had the phone on silent.

Of course you were reading, wise girl.

Annabeth smirked. It was, in fact, a believable story.

Go to sleep.

Will do. 

"Boyfriend?" Annabeth glanced up to see Natasha staring at her, the door to the showers swinging closed behind her.

"How did you know?" 

Natasha smirked, and made her way to the teenager. She was wearing a fresh set of clothes; she had freshened up in her guest room in the compound. 

"A spy never reveals her secrets. Anyway, Peter is asking for you downstairs. He wants to know if you're hungry."

Annabeth glanced down at her phone. It was 3:27. 

"Kind of early for dinner."

Natasha nodded. "That kid is hungry all of the time, though. And despite the 83 boxes of pizza that were here at noon, all that's left are crumbs now. So Tony wants to know if we want cheeseburgers or tacos, and its tied, and you're the tie-breaker."

The whole sentence sounded like the woman had rehearsed it all the way up the elevator. She now stared at Annabeth quizzically, awaiting her answer. Annabeth couldn't believe that the hardest problem she'd have to solve for the day would be whether she wanted burgers or tacos.

"What did you pick?" Annabeth met Natasha's gaze.

"Cheeseburgers. Duh." Annabeth smiled at the snarky response. Despite just meeting these people for the first time today, she was beginning to understand why Peter liked them. Even if he pretended to be annoyed by their presence. 

"Yeah. Me too."

Natasha threw her hands up in victory. She smiled back at Annabeth, and started walking back towards the hallway and the elevator. Back down to the party.

"Lets go tell everyone the big news."

...

Peter couldn't believe what fun he'd had. He felt like his life was just the same as before the bombing. He was surrounded by crazy, starving super-heroes (not including MJ, Ned, and Annabeth) and he loved it. He had played games, and watched Clint Barton die internally as he was beat at Jenga by a 5 year old. He watched another Star Wars movie, Rogue One, and ate at least 6 cheeseburgers. They'd danced a bit, too: not that he needed to reflect on any of that. (It was pretty bad.) 

After 9:00, they'd ended up ordering 10 gallons of ice cream and getting drunk on kool-aid. It was 10:30 before Ned and MJ left, and 11 before Peter Quill had to come in and escort his 2 fellow guardians back onto their ship.

Slowly, the crowd dispersed. Annabeth had tried to return to her hotel room after Ned and Michelle had left, but Peter had insisted she'd stay. There were 20 guest rooms on that floor alone; every single one much more comfortable than any crappy hotel room could give her. Ned and Michelle had families and curfews to reach, she did not.

After pleading and very hard convincing, she had finally agreed. Only she, Pepper, Tony, Morgan, Steve and Natasha remained at the Avenger's compound. Peter, Morgan and Annabeth were immersed in a deep conversation about the biggest lego towers they had ever made. 

So far, Annabeth had been the winner, with a foot to mile replica of Manhattan.

I'd been really bored that week, she had stated, shrugging. 

"Alright, Morgandu, it is time for bed!" Tony walked over to the couch where the three minors were sitting, clapping his hands. "Parker, Chase, you both go put your nerdy heads on a pillow." Peter glared at Stark, and Annabeth laughed. 

As Peter made his way down the hallway, he couldn't help but feel content. Something had changed, just a little. He found that even if he'd lost all of his blood relatives, and his home, he still had a great family.

He was still overwhelmed by guilt, yes, but he could deal with that later. For now, he would sleep without weight on his chest. He had had an overall great day, and it overclouded his sorrow.

...

The world was blurry around her. Annabeth blinked rapidly, dispersing the sleep from her eyes, and sat up in the overly comfy and large bed. Her phone sat beside her on the nightstand, the one Leo had made for most of Camp Half-blood so that they could communicate normally without the threat of attracting monsters. It was off it's hinges, ringing relentlessly and shaking the surface it was on.

Annabeth blinked a few more times and picked up the phone, reading the name on the screen.

Percy

By the time Annabeth had processed the fact that Percy Jackson was calling her at 2:00 am (though it wasn't that time in San Francisco), the ringing had already ended. Annabeth went to call Percy back, but she hadn't even typed in the first 3 digits of his number when her phone started ringing again. She answered the frantic call and put the phone to her ear, more alert.

"Percy? Why are you calling me so ea-" Annabeth stopped abruptly as Percy's hurried voice came over her's. "No time, Annabeth. Something terrible happened!"

Annabeth was wide awake now. Percy was scared. He never sounded scared. 

"What happened?"

Percy paused for a few seconds, as if wondering how to word what he was about to say.

"I- I heard something. In the house." Percy paused again. The world was so quiet she could here his breathing over the device.

"What did you hear?" Annabeth tried to keep her voice steady. For the sake of both of them.

"A bang... Gunshots." Percy quieted once again. He had more to say, but relented. Annabeth leaned against a pillow, swallowing.

"How many gunshots?" 

"Four." 

Annabeth sighed. Percy wouldn't have called if this wasn't important. Something was really wrong.

"Percy, what happened?" 

It was eternity before he answered, and still it was vague, but somehow she knew her life had changed. 

"Annabeth-" Percy breathed shakily on the other side. "They're dead. They're all dead."

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo..... Anyway thank so much for reading! Please leave kudos or comments, they are what makes this fic worth writing. All of y'all's support is so nice, and I can not thank y'all enough.


	7. A Jet & A Friend & A Phone & A Ring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back friends! Here I have another chapter, a bit short, but it does its purpose.  
> I am having a lot of fun writing this, especially reading comments. Seriously guys, if you have ANYTHING to say, I'd live to hear it.  
> I hope those of you who participated in the Fanworks Day event had a lot of fun. I personally didn't plan on missing, but sometimes dumb things get in the way./:  
> Anyway, on with the reading!

"Who's dead?" Annabeth's voice was barely audible. She was already sure she knew the answer to her question, but she asked anyway. She licked her dry lips, and leaned into the phone.

"Your dad. Your Stepmom. Bobby and Matthew." Percy's voice was weak, and apologetic. 

Annabeth gasped softly, and slumped further into the bed. "What happened?" She repeated.

"What happened?" Percy drew in a sharp breath, and she could hear his footsteps on the hard wood floor. "I don't know, Annabeth. There were four gunshots, and now there are four bullets in 4 people's heads. What do you think happened?"

Percy's voice was frantic. Annabeth bit the inside of her cheek, and thought through what was happening. 

Apparently her family was dead, all shot.

But Percy was alive. Why?

"Percy, where's the person who shot the gun?"

There was no answer for several moments. Annabeth looked down at her phone to make sure Percy hadn't hung up.

"I didn't think of that." Annabeth would've facepalmed if she situation wasn't so dire. She heard the sound of Riptide being uncapped and her heartbeat sped up even more than it already had. "I'm going to find them, Annabeth. I'll call you back."

A protest had barely escaped her lips when the small device in her hand beeped. Percy had ended the call.

Annabeth dropped the phone onto the bedsheets and wiped her clammy hands on the soft fabric. She thrived under horrific circumstances. She would figure out what to do.

She slid out of the bed and paced the rooms for a few moments, wondering what she could do. She made a list of the things she knew about the situation at hand.

My family was killed by an unknown person.

Percy is still alive.

The murderer may or may not still be at my house.

Everything is happening in San Francisco, and I'm in New York.

Annabeth couldn't do anything here. She needed to get to San Francisco.

"Annabeth?" Annabeth jumped and turned toward the sound of the voice. Peter was standing at the doorway of her guest room, looking concerned. "Is everything ok?"

"How did I wake you up? You're all the way down the hall!" Annabeth continued pacing, but her thoughts were becoming jumbled.

"I knew something was wrong. Spider-sense, remember? And the last time I ignored it-" Peter stopped mid-sentence, and fixed his eyes on Annabeth's face. Something must've given away what she was feeling, because he stepped into the room without invitation and stopped elbow's length away from the daughter-of-Athena. "What's wrong?"

Annabeth tried to keep her voice calm. Panicking never solved anything. "Percy called. Someone shot my parents and brothers in San Francisco. Now Percy is looking for them."

Peter didn't ask for more details, simply taking a deep breath and asking the million-dollar question. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Her voice sounded small and weak, despite her efforts. She breathed deeply, and looked up at her friend. "The only thing I can think of is to go to him. I'm no help here."

"San Francisco?" 

"But by the time I even leave the city, someone else could already be dead."

Peter looked up at the ceiling and thought for a minute, and started backing out of the room, his face hardening in confidence. "It just so happens that Mr. Stark has about 50 super-fast billion-dollar jets. It'll be faster than driving a car, anyway."

Peter turned to Annabeth. "Get changed. I'll go wake everyone up." Spider-Man was running down the hallway before Annabeth snapped out of her surprise and hurried to the closet. She slipped the clothes on she'd had the previous day, grabbed her phone, and typed a quick message to Percy. 

Don't worry, Percy. We are coming for you.

She didn't wait for a response as she sprinted down the hallway after Peter.

...

It was only 11 pm. Normally, Percy wouldn't be asleep for at least another 2 hours.

The fact of the matter was, though, that he had basically been driving for 50 straight hours. He could barely keep his eyes open.

But who could stay asleep with gunshots going off four times consecutively? Not him.

San Francisco wasn't a safe place. Maybe that was why the first two shots didn't bother him into climbing out of bed.

The third shot, he was up.

The fourth shot, he was in the hallway and more alert than he had been in the past 3 days.

Everything was eerily silent. He'd made his way into the room opposite his guest room, sprinkled with legos and crayons on the floor. Bunk-beds took up a quarter of the room, two small sleeping forms laying on them.

Surely the shots would've woken them up?

Percy whispered Annabeth's brother's names, cringing at the panic in his voice. He was overreacting. 

He said the boy's names again, louder. They didn't even stir. Percy made his way across the room, trying his best to avoid the small trip-hazards strewn on the floor in the dark. Being with Annabeth, he'd gotten quite good at that specific task.

He had stifled a scream and backed up the way he had came. Even in the dark, the sight was horrific and unforgettable.

Percy had seen a lot of terrible things in his short life. 

The bloody bullet holes in the head of Annabeth's sleeping little brothers was near the top of the list.

Percy had made his way to Mr. and Mrs's Chase's rooms, holding back a sob.

You couldn't even see their eyebrows. The blood coated the pillows there heads lay on.

He'd called Annabeth- he wasn't sure what else to do. He couldn't think straight.

And, being the idiot he was, she'd had to remind him that the perpetrator might've still been on the property.

And now he stood on the grass outside of the house, the sky dark and haunting above him. Riptide glinted, barely helping Percy to see 2 feet in front of him. He held his breath, listening for signs of anyone else's presence.

Nothing. Silence but for the sound of the wind.

Then the door creaked open behind him.

...

"This is the fastest jet we have. It halves the time of a normal flight." Tony attempted to sound reassuring, but even he knew that the odds of him getting Annabeth to San Francisco in time for her to do anything helpful were slim.

Still, when a frantic Peter had practically jumped onto him and Pepper, ranting about Annabeth and guns and California, Tony didn't hesitate to make amends.

He didn't like seeing Peter scared.

He didn't like seeing friends of Peter scared, either.

Annabeth wasn't the geek-friend like Ned, or the obsessive journalist girl-friend that was Michelle (and that was his opinion that couldn't be changed, no matter how Peter tried to convince him otherwise.) No, the girl was a mega-genius, not unlike Peter. She had graduated from college mere weeks before she even turned 18. 

And she was fierce, like Natasha. She fought hard, with calculations and precision. She outlasted the best of the best (and Tony would never admit that to Nat) for a surprising amount of time. There was something she was hiding, but he couldn't pinpoint what exactly that something was.

Now the person she loved was in danger, and someone else she loved was dead (he hadn't gotten all the important details yet). Tony had only spoken maybe 10 sentences to the girl, and now he was having Happy fly her, along with him, Peter and Pepper, all the way to San Francisco.

"So how long will it take?" Annabeth's voice jolted Tony from his thoughts. She sounded surprisingly calm.

"About 3 and a half hours." Happy's voice sounded from the front of the plane. He was in the pilot's seat, the co-pilot seat empty beside him where Tony was supposed to be sitting. Peter was sitting a row behind him, closest to the window. Annabeth sat beside him. Pepper sat nearest the opposite window.

"I didn't know you could fly, Happy?" Peter looked stoic and uncomfortable, despite being in the comfiest seat a plane could get.

"I, spider-ling, am the ultimate chauffeur. You name it, I can drive it." Happy's voice was light in an obvious attempt to ease the tension in the small space. He turned to look at Peter, who offered him a small smile and whispered something to Annabeth Tony didn't catch. The girl smiled slightly back at him, and grabbed her phone from her pocket.

"OK, people. Everyone put on your seat belts for the take-off. Once we reach 30,000 feet, go ahead and go crazy. Reasonably." Happy looked pointedly at Tony, and the sounds of seat belt buckles clicking behind them resonated around the small, quiet space.

Tony buckled into the copilot seat, and slumped into it. He'd barely gotten any sleep, but there was no way anyone would be able to nap on the trip. The plane was eerily quiet other than the soft hum of machinery. 

It was going to be a long 3 and a half hours.

The good thing was: Tony had an amazing talent: talking. 

He wasn't just helping Annabeth because Peter had asked him to, even though he hadn't even done a research on this kid yet. He knew nothing about her, or why her boy-friend was in San Francisco. Heck, he didn't even know the specific address of where they were supposed to be going.

So Tony would do what he did best: started a conversation no one in the jet really wanted to be a part of.

"So, Annabeth. What type of phone do you have there?" Start simple. 

Annabeth looked up at the co-pilot seat, confusion and surprise written all over her. Peter also looked confused.

"What do you mean, Mr. Stark? Her phone's just like everyone else's." Something in Peter's voice said Whatthehellareyoudoingyouidiot. Tony smirked.

"Well, at first I thought it was one of those sucky i-phones, you know, like one you had before I trashed it and got you a Stark one?" At this Peter rolled his eyes. "But its not. Look at it." Tony gestured towards the small device in Annabeth's hand. She held it up to her face and Peter's. Neither of the teenagers seemed to see anything abnormal about it. 

"Here. Let me show you." Annabeth reluctantly put the phone in Tony's outstretched hand. he took off the case- a dull, light grey with an owl engraved on it- and pointed at the back of the phone. It had thin glossy over coat on the back of the phone that was probably meant as a protective precaution- inconspicuous to anyone not paying close attention. Still, it made the body of the device just slightly wider than an i-phone, and a little bit more advanced-looking. 

Annabeth's eyes widened as she understood what he was pointing out. She glanced up at Tony in awe. "How did you even notice that?" Tony bit back a grin and handed the phone back to her. 

"Technology speaks to me. So, what type of phone is it?" Annabeth hesitated, seeming to fight an inside battle. Finally, she looked up once again at Stark. "One of my friends- he created the prototype for me and a couple of other people. It's not connected to any shared net-work- and you can only get calls from other people who have that type of phone, or who's number is programmed into the phone." 

Tony whistled slowly. "So is Peter's number programmed into your phone?"

"Yes. I put it in there when we started the engineering project a couple weeks ago." 

"So I wouldn't be able to call you?" 

"Nope." Annabeth had a look of pride in her eyes. "Here, you can try if you want to."

Annabeth typed her number into Tony's phone. His buzzed, waiting for the other end of the line to pick up. Annabeth's didn't ring at all.

"Your friend- how old is he?" Tony hung up his phone and looked once more to the teenager. She hesitated again- debating whether or not to tell him the truth. Peter looked at her knowingly.

How many secrets did this kid have?

How many did Peter know?

"His name is Leo- he's 16, almost 17." Tony jerked from his thoughts. It took him a few seconds to comprehend what Annabeth said, and when he did it didn't make sense. 16? He was the same age as Peter, and while Peter was a genius, he'd never made a phone. 

Tony hadn't even designed the Stark phone until he was in his late 20's... 30's? He couldn't remember. Either way, he was very impressed.

"Me and my... cousins did most of the programming. Leo did some of it, though, and he designed the prototype and duplicated it." Annabeth paused to glance over at Peter, who was holding her phone very close to his face, as if he would see something he hadn't noticed before. 

Tony shook his head. Was this girl just a part of a team of genius prodigies? 

And why did she hesitate to tell him simple things like having cousins?

The jet trip was going to be long. Tony would keep Annabeth's mind off of the problem at hand, for her sake. He would help her with whatever she needed help with when the time came.

And maybe, in the meantime, he would find a crack in her wall, and learn something new.

...

Percy didn't answer the phone. It worried Annabeth, but she tried not to think about it. She couldn't do anything on the jet. 

Tony Stark was surprisingly helpful. Usually she wouldn't consider being bombarded with questions helpful, but the onslaught of endless conversation starters kept her from thinking about what might've been happening at her house. How life would change now.

It helped her brain to focus- what could she tell him? How could she twist the truth to keep the genius from figuring out her secrets?

When Peter had sworn not to share anything Annabeth had told him with anyone else, he had pointed out that she could trust any of the Avengers. They'd understand- and she wouldn't have to worry about them keeping her secret. They put a lot of work into ensuring Peter's secret identity wasn't revealed, and they'd been pretty successful. 

Imagine how much more careful they'd be with a whole camp full of kids with secret identities.

Plenty of mortals knew about demi-gods, sure. But you always had to be cautious.

"So. Annabeth. What does your boy-friend study?" Tony once again pulled Annabeth from her thoughts. 

"Well, he wanted to major in surfing, but I told him to find a more promising career."

That had been an interesting argument. Yes, Percy could be a pro surfer- but wouldn't it have been suspicious when Percy won every contest because he could bend the water to his will?

Percy had told her he could get wet if he wasn't trying not to, but Annabeth won every argument. 

"Surfing? So not all of your friends are child engineers and architects?" Tony sounded kind of relieved. Annabeth laughed. She instantly felt guilty for doing such a thing when her parents and her step brothers were dead and Percy was in danger and-

"So what is he majoring in instead?" Peter spoke loudly, looking at her pointedly. She smiled at him gratefully.

"I think marine biology. He's still just in the beginning stages, learning basic stuff. He hasn't really decided yet." Percy never really talked about his future. 

It was just crazy to think there was a possibility of ever having one.

"He also wanted to do deep-sea diving tours. Or sailing. He really can't make up his mind."

"Sounds like he likes the ocean." Stark's voice was of amusement. Peter gave Annabeth a knowing look.

She really wished he'd stop doing that. It was really obvious.

"By the way- what college lets teenagers start classes a year early? At first I thought it was just because you were really smart, but from the sounds of it- and don't mind me stereotyping- Percy doesn't sound like the guy who could skip a year of high-school and head to college." 

Annabeth wondered how she could bend the truth for this scenario. She couldn't very well tell Tony that they started early because there was less a chance of them dying a horrible death before they graduated.

"We- we could do a certain number of online bonus courses during high-school to apply-" It was a really weak lie, but Annabeth couldn't think of anything better. "It is just a community college." 

Tony looked at her quizzically, but didn't ask for explanation. 

"So why did you go to a community college all the way in California and then decide to do your summer project here in New York?"

"Well, Percy lives in Manhattan, I didn't want to be-"

"But Percy is going to the same college as you, right?" Tony interrupted. Annabeth gulped. The man was spouting out questions quicker than she could find a believable lie for them.

Thankfully, Peter seemed to sense her stress and came to the rescue.

"Really, Mr. Stark, stop asking her so many questions! It's kind of annoying." Tony directed his attention to Peter, lifting his eyebrows mockingly. "I'm being annoying, am I?" Peter nodded vigorously. 

"You really are." Annabeth jumped. She had forgotten Pepper Potts was even there. She did not even look up from her Stark pad as she said her words of confirmation.

Tony glanced back over at Annabeth, smirking. "You should've seen this guy on movie night last month." The man lifted an accusing finger at Peter, whose face burned read as he mumbled, "Oh come on, Mr. Stark." 

Annabeth had a feeling an embarrassing story was coming.

"We were watching the Lion King. Great movie, you know." Tony gave a chef's kiss. "Great piece of film." Peter shook his head solemnly. 

"Well," Tony continued, an evilish grin on his face at the sight of Peter's discomfort, "I don't know if this kid was drunk on Kool-aid or chocolate milk or what, but he had absolutely no control over himself. The minute the movie started, he had those ahhhhh-savannnasss going like there was no tomorrow." When Tony sang the part of the song he was referring to, his voice cracked in laughter at the memory. Annabeth couldn't help but snicker just at the sight of Tony singing, let alone the thought of Peter doing the same.

"Mr. Stark, please sto-" Peter started, but Tony was in a rant again. 

"I'm just gonna say one thing, you're friend there is not a singer, Annabeth." Tony was barely controlling his laughter, and even Pepper had a small smile on her face illuminated by the blue glow of her screen.

Peter was covering his face with his hands.

"No one tried to get him to stop, though, because it was hilarious." Tony's grin was malicious. 

"Then Clint decided to join in. It was a duet!" Tony burst out laughing once again, and Peter muttered something that sounded like "I was drugged." 

Tony shakily took his phone out of his pocket and fumbled with it for a moment. "Look, I have a video! Want to see?" At this Peter lunged for Tony, but forgot he still had his seat-belt on and was knocked back down. 

"I said, reasonably!" Happy called from beside Tony, but even he was laughing. 

The embarrassing video of Peter and Clint sent the entire party into a fit of laughter, even Peter. Annabeth's spirits felt at flight, which didn't seem right. She was reminded of the whole reason she was in the jet in the first place. 

Her body was still heaving with laughter, but time slowed around her. Annabeth's gaze left the video and looked up at Mr. Stark.

He was laughing too, his eyes showing his humor.

Behind that were a thousand other things though, feelings you'd only see if you focused.

His fatherly affection for Peter. His traumatic past. All things that were obvious.

However, something else seemed to be brimming to the top.

Relief. Concern. Hope. Determination.

For her. Annabeth. 

Tony had started a conversation, made everyone laugh. And he'd done it for Annabeth, to distract her. To help her get through the long, stressful 3 hours of flight.

Not to mention the fact that the man had rushed everyone to the fastest jet he owned at 2 am to get a girl he'd only just met all the way to San Francisco for a seemingly hopeless mission.

Peter had said Annabeth could trust Tony. And she was pretty sure she believed him.

Suddenly time unfroze, and Annabeth's emphatic abilities were gone. The laughter had died away, only chuckles and wide smiles remaining.

Tony looked slightly lightheaded, but he was grinning. He met Annabeth's eyes, and something passed between them.

Perhaps Tony had gained 2-second emphatic abilities and was using them on her.

Annabeth hoped he saw the gratitude she felt.

...

The jet set down gracefully in a field (Tony assured them he would contact the owner of the land later and give them plenty of money for their troubles) only a quarter-of-a-mile away from Annabeth's house. As soon as the door was open, Everyone was rushing down the steps and into the grass. 

After a few minutes of running, Tony (in his Iron man suit), Peter (In his Spider-man suit), and Annabeth (with a suspicious looking dagger she had somehow had concealed in her hoodie pocket) were standing mere feet away from their destination. Pepper and Happy had stayed on the jet to keep watch.

The house looked completely normal from the outside, except for the front door being left ajar.

Everyone just stood in silence for a moment, as if forgetting where they were, before Tony broke the silence.

"I'm scanning the house for any heat signatures." The man paused for a few moments before once again lifting his voice. "No- no ones here."

Annabeth looked up at Iron-man, horrified. "The scan doesn't pick up dead people, does it?" Tony shook his head solemnly. 

Annabeth placed a look of resolve on her face, but when she spoke, it sounded defeated and almost empty of hope. "Well, we'll either find a dead Percy or we won't find a Percy at all."

Annabeth walked slowly into the house, holding her weapon out in front of her in case of danger, even though Tony had already assured her there was nothing alive in the house. 

"Hello?" Peter didn't sense anyone inside. The pricking feeling at the base of his spine was barely there. The danger had already passed awhile ago. 

Annabeth ran up the stairs, Peter struggling to keep up with her. She rushed into an open door and stopped by a large bed. 

Peter finally caught up with his friend and gasped. The sight below him brought on too many nightmares of his past.

A man and a women lay together in a bed- the covers that would have been a sweet baby-blue now coated with dried rust-colored blood. The couple's ages couldn't have been older than the late 40's. 

The woman would've been quite attractive, like Peter's aunt. Through the thick blood, her lips quirked up just ever so slightly, as if she was having a nice dream. Her skin looked like it used to be a nice tan, only now it was so pale it was almost translucent.

As for her face... A hole the size of a dime stood dark and center in the middle of her fore-head, coating her hair and eyelids and the pillow she rested on. The small little hole still seeped a small amount of blood, coating the old crusty stuff with dark, glistening new liquid.

The man was in the same situation. His blood mixed with hers. 

They died in their sleep. They felt no pain.

Peter hardly felt reassured.

Annabeth choked back a sob. Peter turned to the girl beside him. Her hands were covering her face, but her grey eyes peeked between her fingers.

She didn't want to look, but she couldn't stop looking. 

Peter took all the courage he could muster and wrapped his arms around his friend. He was only slightly taller than her- he hardly felt brave or strong or someone somebody could lay their burdens on.

Still, he put all he had into the embrace, and tilted her head towards him and away from the horror scene mere feet away from them. Annabeth leaned into Peter, putting her face into his shoulder and showing more weakness than she had ever shown to him before.

She didn't cry, just merely breathed in and out, shakily, her eyes closed. Peter closed his eyes too. He didn't want to be a part of what was beside him. Still, the scent of the blood lingered. For once he wished he could turn off his spider-sense. The blood was choking him.

Quiet footsteps emanated from the staircase. Soon Tony was leaning against the doorway, watching the sorry scene before him. Annabeth didn't seem to notice his presence.

The two super-heroes locked eyes. They weren't a part of this. They had never even met these people. 

And it always felt horrible to be powerless.

...

Peter and Annabeth searched the rest of the house and the area around it, while Tony contacted the police to come collect the bodies and examine the crime scene. 

Annabeth hadn't found anything but what Percy had told her of- 4 bodies with 4 bloody bullet holes. Percy was nowhere to be found.

The only room she hadn't checked was the guest-room, where Percy would've been staying. She was dreading going in there more than she had dreaded walking in on the dead bodies of her little step-brothers.

Now she had no choice- Tony wanted the crew gone before the police came, so as not to raise any further suspicion.

"Peter- could you wait out here, please?" Peter had been leaning against the wall, watching her walk in aimless circles for the past 5 minutes. He seemed surprised by the request, but nodded. Annabeth slipped into the guest room and closed the door softly behind her.

There was no smell of blood, no dead bodies. A bed with ruffled sheets on one end of the room, 2 suitcases still packed standing beside it.

Annabeth unzipped the cases and rummaged through Percy's belongings: A few sets of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, a small bag of ambrosia and 3 bottles of nectar (for emergencies.) A small box.

Annabeth opened the little box- no bigger than her palm. 6 golden drachmas lay strewn over the velvet bottom.

Accompanied by the coins was Percy's one-of-a-kind watch that transformed into a shield, along with his necklace of beads from camp Half-blood.

And a ring. 

Annabeth picked up the small object with trembling hands. The metal was slick and shiny in her hand. The surface of the ring was no wider than a centimetre. It was a light and elegant style. 

Engraved in the metal with shiny blue stones were 2 Greek words. 

Σοφό κορίτσι  
Wise girl.

Michelle had been right.

Annabeth silently slid the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, everyone. Please leave Kudos or comments, you don't even know how excited I get every time I get alerted of someone posting a comment or giving kudos. Y'all are tooooooo nice.


	8. Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah....... Its been a looong time.  
> I actually have a legit excuses for not posting this time, tho, and if you want to hear about my problems, they'll be in the end notes. For now, read without interruptions.  
> Except...... I want to give a shout-out to someone awesome, 107thInfantry. They actually gave me an idea at the end of this chapter that continues into the next one a bit, so I'm not going to tell you WHAT the idea is for now. Just know that this person has been super supportive! Leaves an encouraging comment every. single. chapter! So thankyou,thankyou,thankyou. ;)
> 
> And also, something weird happens when I import. Anything I have in italics doesn't stay that way.... It makes things confusing. I'm really sorry, guys. I'm not very tech savvy, but I'm trying to fix it. Just try to understand whats being said out loud and whats being thought, ok? Thanks for the cooperation.

The trek back through the open field to the jet was empty and weighted. Annabeth hefted Percy's luggage as well as a few material things she'd found in her house in her arms, resolving to search through all of it later. Her mind was clouded with a million thoughts and questions.

What happened to Percy?

Is he dead?

Who killed them? 

Where is the murderer now?

This is a suburban neighborhood- half a mile out of the main city limits. How come the gunshots didn't call the attention of the neighbors?

What will happen to my house- did my dad even have a will?

Mostly, Annabeth's mind was overwhelmed with the horrific images she had just seen. As hard as she tried to rid herself of the recent memories, the frozen horror movie remained an ever-present nightmare in her already burdened brain.

It wasn't like she'd expected to be able to help Percy- the action of whatever went on when Percy hung up on her would have been done long before she arrived at her destination.

Still, Annabeth could not deny the shock that made her body feel numb and her ears buzz.

Peter walked closely beside her, helping Annabeth carry Percy's suitcases. He didn't offer any words of sympathy or condolence, merely being a much-needed presence.

Soon they were all buckled into the unnecessarily comfortable jet seats, Happy clicking and flicking buttons and switches Annabeth only half understood, and Tony Stark whispering soft words to his friend she could not make out. Pepper's face was still lit by the blue light of her Stark Pad on the other side of the aisle, but her eyes were set upon the silent teenagers opposite her, her brow taut in concern and curiosity.

"I can hear the sirens." Peter whispered quietly beside Annabeth, almost to himself.

"What?" Annabeth looked over at her friend.

"The police are on their way." Peter closed his eyes in concentration. "8 cars full of them, 2 ambulances and a firetruck." Peter looked up at the ceiling, his face laced with confusion. "What exactly did Mr. Stark tell them?"

The jet lurched, taking off into the sky. Annabeth was surprised Happy hadn't warned them of the departure. He must've just looked into the back seat to make sure everything was in order.

For a couple of minutes, nothing could be heard but the soft thrum of machinery. Pepper was immersed in her Stark Pad, her nails tapping out lightning-speed messages. Happy and Tony remained in quiet conversation.

No one really knew what to do.

No one really knew what had happened.

Annabeth hadn't given anyone other than Peter a sufficient amount of information. Heck, most of the occupants in this space hadn't even met her in person until the day before.

"Your going to have to give them something, you know." Peter's whispered sentence echoed Annabeth's thoughts exactly. 

As horrible as the world was, an entire family living out in the suburbs getting shot in their sleep and a visitor who'd only been there a couple of hours going missing immediately after wasn't a common occurrence.

Most of the avengers were already suspicious of Annabeth. And somehow, Annabeth knew that after this moment, she'd be linked to the team in one way or another whether she liked it or not.

She wouldn't tell him everything, but Tony was curious about the whole situation. Something had changed, and she had a feeling Percy's disappearance had nothing to do with Hera's schemes or amnesia and switcheroos this time. She had a spreading feeling that she'd need Peter and Tony's help in the near future.

She couldn't keep this man who had helped her so willingly (No matter what his motivations were) in the dark for much longer.

Annabeth looked over to the boy beside her. "I know."

...

Peter honestly didn't even know how they'd gotten to this moment in time. 

Annabeth had (unknowingly) woke him up in the very early hours of the morning with terrible news. Somehow Peter had convinced Mr. Stark to use one of his private jets to fly a girl he barely knew across the country over a dire situation he knew scarcely anything about.

What had they expected to find? 

What were they expecting to do? 

Peter couldn't remember what plans had been made. If they'd made any, at that.

Because, in reality, the jet would never have been fast enough to help with anything. Happy had started that jet for no other purposes than the fact that Annabeth didn't know what else to do.

No one had expected to find Percy Jackson in that house.

Unless they found his corpse.

Now they were back on the jet, going back to New York- everything had happened so quickly, without a sufficient explanation.

And now Annabeth was- explaining being a demi-god to Tony?

He was just so confused.

He had told her to trust Tony, though. He'd told her to give Mr. Stark something more.

This was what he had meant?

And Peter couldn't help wondering what this meant. His aunt was killed just over a week ago. And now Annabeth's family was dead, too.

And it was all coincidental?

But maybe it wasn't.

Either way, they were connected now- he and Annabeth- and not just as project partners.

They would all have to tell each other the truth. 

The plane was dreadfully quiet as Annabeth explained how she was a Greek demi-god, how she had spent the early years of her life at a summer camp that only allowed demi-gods and other Greek should-be-mythical creatures into the camp. Demi-gods trained for their challenges they would no doubt face in the near future. 

Annabeth left out things personal that she had told Peter.

Considering she'd only known Tony Stark for a day, it made sense.

Peter had a feeling Annabeth really didn't share these secrets to anyone unless she felt it necessary.

Something told Peter Annabeth was thinking the same things as him- she felt the connection the two teenagers undoubtedly had from here on out.

Annabeth Chase was connected to the Avengers now.

Peter's senses couldn't predict the future he and Annabeth were yet to face, but that alone he could tell. 

"And anyone who wants to go home- if they have a home to go home to, that is- leave after the summer and try to make it through the school year without blowing anything up or causing a war." Annabeth finished her explanation. Everyone in the plane was quiet. Pepper's stark pad was lying in her lap untouched, her hands resting lightly on her knees.

"Chase-" Tony started, his voice heavy with concern. "I think you're in shock."

Annabeth opened her mouth to argue, but Peter took the chance to join the conversation.

"She's telling the truth." Peter's voice was louder than he intended. Everyone turned their attention to him, except Happy, who was very good at his job and obviously needed a raise.

"What?" Tony looked at his intern incredulously. Pepper sighed into her hands, eyeing the teenagers with something between concern and knowing dread.

"Just think about it, Mr. Stark. Why wouldn't demi-gods exist? Thor exists." Tony opened his mouth to reply, but Peter cut him off. "We've been to space! We've met blue people!" Tony just shook his head, but his resolve seemed to be crumbling.

Happy spoke up from the pilot seat, his facial features void of expression. "Kids got a point, Tones."

Annabeth hastily reached for her phone. "Look! We had to make these phones because when we use technology, Greek monsters can track us through the signal. These are special so we can communicate normally." Tony eyed the phone wearily. Annabeth dropped the small device in her lap and rummaged through a backpack in the seat behind her, coming out with a small jewelry box. It's contents jingled at the sudden movement.

Annabeth popped open the latch of the box and tenderly pinched a small coin between her thumb and pointer finger. She held it out for the skeptic in front of her to take.

"An ancient Greek drachma. We use them to create iris messages, a sort of communication we did before Leo made these phones." Annnabeth looked up at Tony hopefully. His eyes told her to keep going.

Annabeth huffed and took a ring off her finger Peter hadn't noticed before. She gingerly placed the small piece of jewelry in Tony's hand. He eyed it closely.

"Percy gave that to me. The letters- they are Greek." Tony wasn't looking at the ring anymore, though, rather, the finger Annabeth had removed it from. Peter followed his line of sight.

Then it hit him. 

The ring was an engagement ring.

"But then again, people get jewelry engraved with other languages all the time, so I guess that doesn't prove anything." Annabeth once again rummaged through Percy's luggage she and Peter had carried onto the jet. After a few seconds, she pulled out an orange t-shirt with the words Camp Half-Blood on it, with the outline of a Pegasus underneath. Tony wasn't paying attention, though, his gaze still fixated on the ring.

His eyes were filled with sadness for the girl he had so tried to help.

"This is our camp t-shirt." Annabeth's voice was rushed. She had noticed where the jet's occupant's attention had gone, and she was now quickly trying to redirect the conversation.

"I've got pictures, too!" Annabeth quickly entered a password into her phone and was soon scrolling through photos until she found the one she was looking for.

Annabeth thrust the phone into Tony's outstretched hands and took her ring back, sliding it once more on her ring finger. It took a second for Tony's eyes to redirect and register the image on the phone. His eyebrows raised as he took in whatever he was seeing. 

Noticing Peter's curious stare, Tony passed the phone to him.

The photo was a clumsy shot of two teenage boys- one was blond with electric blue eyes caught in the middle of an annoyed eye-roll. However, his lips were quirked up ever so slightly. Sitting on his shoulders piggy-back style was a scrawnier guy with brown curly hair and brown eyes. He was trying and failing to keep a straight, stern face. His right arm was extended high above his head, Lady-Liberty style. 

Peter held back a gasp when he realized the boy's raised fist was ignited in a red ball of flame.

Then he realized the blond boy was levitating off the ground. 

"The kid with the blond hair is named Jason. He's a son of Zeus-" Annabeth paused and shook her head, smiling slightly. "Well actually, he's a son of Jupiter, the roman version of Zeus, but" She noticed the confusion was growing and stopped abruptly, clearing her throat. "But that's not really important. Anyway, that's why he can fly. And the kid on top of Jason is Leo."

"The kid who made the phones?" Tony interrupted.

Annabeth nodded. "Yes. He's a son of Hephaestus, so that's why he is so good with machinery."

"Don't think I'm clueless. I know its very much possible to just photo-op all this stuff." Tony gestured toward the phone in Peter's hand.

Annabeth sighed heavily. "I could... but why would I?"

The plane was quiet. Tony opened his mouth, before shutting it once again, shaking his head. 

"C'mon, Mr. Stark." Peter's voice sounded whiny to himself. He cleared his throat in an effort to steady it. "You've heard things crazier. We of all people should at least consider stories like this." 

"Why would you tell me all this stuff, anyway?" Tony was holding desperately to his skepticism, but Peter knew their points made sense. He knew Tony knew it too.

"I just-" Annabeth swallowed. Her voice was shaky. "I have a feeling your going to need to know. Better now than later."

Moments passed. Everyone was thinking the same thing, Peter knew. 

The same thing he had been thinking mere minutes earlier.

The newfound connection was (he hated using this word) inevitable.

Finally breaking the silence, Tony huffed and slapped his hands into his lap. He looked at the teenagers behind him, a new air about his features.

"So, Annabeth Chase- Who are you a daughter of?"

Annabeth smiled, grateful Tony at least believed her a little bit. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and war strategy."

"Well," Tony closed his eyes and leaned back against his co-pilot seat. "That explains a lot."

...

Annabeth scrubbed the blood she had somehow gotten under her fingers away under the burning hot water in the sink. She was back at the Avenger's compound, despite her earlier protests. She had insisted on returning to her hotel room, but Peter had urged her to stay one more night with him. 

He was like Percy- his puppy eyes were hard to resist. 

Once Annabeth was content with the condition of her shaking hands, she turned off the faucet and looked into the mirror at her reflection. Their were dark circles under her eyes, and her blond curls were tangled. 

In her rush to get to Percy, she hadn't even brushed her hair when she had woken up.

Sighing, Annabeth left the unnaturally clean bathroom and headed towards the common room where she heard voices.

As she got closer to her destination, a mouth-watering smell filled her nostrils. Bacon and gravy, and maybe blueberries? 

Peter was sitting on the leather couch, sitting by someone else- Wanda Maximoff. The friends looked up as Annabeth entered, and soon Wanda was at the unsuspecting teen's side.

A tender hand was placed on her shoulder. Wanda held out her other hand for Annabeth to shake, offering a small smile. Annabeth took it, surprised.

"We haven't properly met. I'm Wanda." Wanda dropped Annabeth's hand and led her onto a couch.

"Peter- would you mind leaving for a moment?" Peter's head shot up, confused. But upon seeing Wanda's stern face, he obeyed and quietly walked out of the living space.

Wanda turned back to Annabeth, her eyes gentle. "I am sorry for the abruptness." Wanda's accent was thick, which was new. Last time Annabeth had heard her speak, she had sounded completely normal. 

"I came over here as soon as I heard your- predicament." Annabeth inhaled sharply. "You see- my parents were killed when I was very young. My brother- I was not much older than you." The young woman's voice faltered as her eyes glistened with tears. She blinked furiously before continuing to speak. 

"The world is corrupt. Nothing is fair. But-" Wanda's voice became more accented still, filled with grim determination. "If you give up, you've already lost."

The world went silent, the room burdened by two who shared more than they knew.

Annabeth was beginning to realize things she hadn't ever thought about before. She had been so busy trying to survive the next day for all of her demi-god life that she hadn't really payed attention to what was happening in the mortal world. But these people had been busy- this team- trying to survive and keep other people they didn't even know alive while at it.

They'd all suffered some amount of trauma themselves.

And yet here they were, together, once again helping someone they didn't even know.

Wanda's grip on Annabeth's shoulder tightened. 

"You'll find him, Annabeth Chase. Peter will help you. I will help you." Wanda's brow was drawn tight, her eyes hardened in confidence. All signs of tears had disappeared.

Grey eyes met blue ones. 

Wanda's gaze didn't relent as she spoke her next words.

"I promise."

Annabeth believed her.

"So." Wanda offered a small smile and stood from the couch, pulling her new friend up with her. "Are you hungry?"

...

The sun was just beginning to set. It really was quite a spectacular view from the floor Annabeth was on.

The grain of the wood under her knuckles was smooth and cold. The feeling made Annabeth want to lay her head against the table and just sleep, but her mind was jumbled and full and would never allow for such a chance of temporary peace.

When Annabeth had gotten off the jet it had been only 10:30am in New York. After eating a breakfast that would've been heavenly had she not just been consumed by overwhelming grief mere hours ago, Annabeth used the remainder of daylight to sort through the things she had brought back from San Francisco. The alone time gave her more time to try and gather her thoughts and organize them, but it was a hopeless task. All Annabeth could think about was blood and death and finding Percy.

Tony had gone to "discuss the matter at hand with the team" hours ago. He was a couple floors above the one Annabeth was residing on. 

Peter was off somewhere, too. Annabeth had been left completely and utterly alone, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Among the things Annabeth had found in Percy's bag was a brand new knife, almost an exact replica of the one Luke had given her ages ago. It was a masterpiece; it could only have been made by Tyson. 

Annabeth figured it probably would've been a gift to her. After she said yes.

She twirled it in her fingers now, aching to stab the sharp, glistening blade into something. To unleash her anger and sorrow into anything other than herself.

But she would never disrespect the property of these few who had been so kind and generous to her.

And so Annabeth flipped her new weapon over and over in her hands, music blasting into her eardrums in a hopeless effort to tune out her worried, frenzied thoughts. Piper had sent it to her before she had started college months ago, and she had gone through every song a thousand times before. Now, the familiar melodies were reduced to mere background noise as her mind continued to overwhelm her.

The sun dipped lower and lower in the sky until it was only a sliver of orange, casting hews of soft pink and white into the dark speckled dome that was space. Even with the city's bright lights and pollution, it was beautiful.

Annabeth slumped in the chair and closed her eyes, her knife still gripped tightly in her hand. She wanted so badly to go back in time. To have gone with Percy to see her family. To get them all to safety before anything bad happened. 

To go back even further, when she had had a morning with Peter building legos in the park.

She would have scheduled the meet for just a little bit earlier, and insisted it'd be at Peter's apartment. Then she'd get he and Mrs. Parker as far away from the building and the unfortunate fate as possible.

Somehow.

Only she couldn't go back in time, and she couldn't save the dead.

But maybe she could save Percy.

Well, she certainly had good help. Not only a few new super-human friends, but her friends who had supported her and saved her life many times over. 

They had all gone their separate ways- Jason and Piper were spending the summer going from camp to camp to help form friendly relationships and wipe away any more tension between the Romans and Greeks. Leo had devoted his summer to helping Calypso become re-accustomed to the world she had been away from for so many years. He said something about starting his own mechanics shop/ karaoke-night restaurant. Hazel and Frank were at Camp Jupiter, Frank most likely consumed with praetor duties, Hazel by his side. Grover was the head of Counsel of Cloven Elders- he seemed to always be busy. Nico was- well, Annabeth really didn't know what Nico was doing. He had found love, though- someone that finally made him happy. It made Annabeth smile when she thought about it.

What mattered was, all of these people wouldn't hesitate to drop whatever they were doing and help her. 

In fact, a bit of contact from her old friends probably wouldn't hurt at all.

Annabeth reached for her phone with the hand that wasn't holding the knife, when something landed on her shoulder, warm and hard.

And suddenly she was seven again, and the world was a blur. She just had to run, get over the hill, but they were closing in, there was so much screaming. Something grabbed her shoulder tightly, and she swung her knife into the monster. She didn't turn around to see it turn to gold dust as it wailed in pain, just kept running.

"Annabeth!" Peter's voice jerked her from the memory, and reality came into focus.

The chair she had been sitting in was knocked over on the floor. Her knuckles were white around her knife, and something dripped from the shiny new celestial bronze. 

Blood.

And Peter stood in front of her, gripping his shoulder tightly. Dark red oozed from between his fingers.

"Gods of Olympus, what did I do?" Annabeth dropped her blade on the floor and took Peter's hand away from his shoulder, observing the wound.

"It's not deep- I'll go get a rag to put pressure on it." Annabeth ran to the buffet counter and began rummaging through drawers until she found a stained kitchen rag. 

"Here. Hold this." Annabeth put the rag on Peter's shoulder and pressed his hand against it. Soon the blood had began to slow. She sighed shakily and rubbed her hands down her face.

I can't believe I just stabbed Peter.

"That's- That is some knife you've got there." Peter chuckled without humor, looking at Annabeth with concern. He put the blood-soaked rag on the counter and reached down to pick up the weapon on the floor.

Because of his enhanced healing, his small wound was now merely a thin slit in his skin. Annabeth sighed with relief and picked up the fallen chair before once again slumping into it.

"Man. My spidey-sense failed me again!" Peter shook his head in disbelief. Annabeth smirked. "Nothing is perfect."

Peter flipped the red-tinted weapon in his hands, examining it closely. The daughter-of-Athena watched him with dull notice of what was really happening around her. 

Annabeth was tired.

"This... Really is some knife you have here." Annabeth's eyes adjusted into focus. Peter was holding the blade up to the light, curiosity and concentration lacing his features. "What type of metal is it made out of?'

Annabeth blinked and frowned, following Peter's gaze. The magical material glinted in the light. 

Luke's voice echoed in her head from long, long ago. 

Now, Annabeth, Celestial Bronze only hurts monsters. You could slash and cut all you want, but this metal won't hurt a mortal.

"It-" Annabeth swallowed.

She didn't understand.

It will hurt you, though. So you need to be careful.

"It's celestial bronze." Her voice sounded weak to her ears.

"Celest- What?" 

Celstial bronze couldn't hurt mortals.

Maybe his powerful senses made things different.

But she couldn't be sure.

"Hey Peter- you remember that deal we made a couple days ago?" Annabeth steadied her voice and turned to her friend.

Peter set the weapon in his hand down and looked at Annabeth, confused. "The one about me taking you to Avengers Tower and you taking me to your camp?"

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah."

Peter cocked his head to the side. He looked like a confused puppy. "So?"

Annabeth stood from her chair and offered a small smile to Spider-man. "You kept your end of the bargain." She closed her eyes and took her weapon from Peter's hands. "Its time I kept mine."

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> k. Hope y'all liked that.  
> And here are my problems and excuses for anyone who wants to know:  
> I had to get my wisdom teeth cut out about a week ago. Turns out anesthesia doesn't sit well with me, and I was throwing up and miserable for a few loooong days. Than I basically slept for like 3 days before I finally decided to pick up my laptop and write something. Before those painful days, I was immersed in a book- the 6th and final book to the Ms. Peregrine's home for Peculiar Children series came out and I refused to turn my eyes away from it's beauty until I was finished.
> 
> So as you can see I had very serious excuses for not posting.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, chapters will be added ASAP! Stick with me here, I can make it worth your while. Ok? Ok.


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